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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 



The 
Chrysanthemum 

Its culture for 
professional growers and amateurs 




A practical treatise 

on its propagation, cultivation^ 

training, raising for exhibition and market y 

hybridizing^ origin 

and history 

By 
Arthur Herrington 



Illustrated 



NEW YORK 

ORANGE JUDD COMPANY 

1905 



LIBRARY of CM>NeRFSSi 
fwo CfOPies rCttCMvwj 

OCT £ 1^05 

Of I a.o^a^ 



/H<^ 






Copyright 1905 

BV 

ORANGE JUDD COMPANY 



ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 



CONTEIS^TS 
Chapter I 

PAGE 

Introductory Notes 1 

Chapter II 
Culture for Exhibition ...••• 8 

Chapter III 
Composts 11 

Chapter IV 
Planting, Benches, Boxes or Pots .... 14 

Chapter V 
General Cultural Details ..... 21 

Chapter YI 
Crown and Terminal Buds 27 

Chapter YII 
Feeding, Its Object and Application ... 42 

Chapter YIII 
Care of the Buds 64 

Chapter IX 
Exhibition and Judging 58 

Chapter X 
Specimen Plants .... . . 70 



yi CONTKXTS 

PA(JK 

Chapter XI 
Chrysanthemum Plants in Six-Incli Pots . . 81 

Chapter XII 
Commercial Culture 87 

Chapter XIII 
Raising from Seed and Hybridizing ... 94 

Chapter XIV 
Sports 101 

Chapter XV 
Hardy Chrysanthemums . . . 105 

Chapter XVI 
Chrysanthemums for the South and "West . . 113 

Chapter XVII 
Chrysanthemums in Australia .... 117 

Chapter XVIII 
Insect Pests and Diseases 122 

Chapter XIX 

Classification and Selection of Varieties for Spe- 
cial Purposes 135 

Chapter XX 
History of the Chrysanthemum .... 149 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

FIG. PAGE 

1. Arthur Herrlngrton Frontispiece 

2. A cutting ready for insertion .... 5 

3. Young plant in right condition for first potting 7 

4. Portable box with six plants .... 16 

5. Well started young plant for bench planting 

and repotting 17 

6. A flat of good planting stock .... 19 

7. Portion of plant showing first break, also where 

first crown bud appeared . . . .30 

8. A crown bud ready to take . . . . 31 

9. Terminal buds 32 

10. A second crown bud and terminal buds allowed 

.to develop upon the same plant ... 33 

11. A crown bud taken too early .... 36 

12. Crown buds in different stages of development 37 

13. First and second crown buds, showing relative 

difference in bights of plants ... 39 

14. Feeding vs ordinary culture, showing difference 

in vigor of two plants of the same variety 44 

15. Feeding vs ordinary culture, showing difference 

in size of flowers both of the same variety 45 

16. Exhibition Chrysanthemums, properly packed 

for shipment 62 

17. Prize vase of 100 Timothy Eaton ... 65 



VIII ILLLS'L'UATIOXS 

FIG. PAGK 

JN. Effectively staged short-stemmed Chrysanthe- 

m\ims 66 

19. S})ecimen hush and standard Chrysanthemum 

plants ........ 72 

20. Specimen hush i)lant of Garza, carrying 800 

hlooms 76 

21. A i)erfect specimen hush plant ... 77 

22. A first-prize hush plant 78. 



2:->. 



Chrysanthenmms, IMerza and Wm. Duckham, 83 

24:. A good Chrysanthemum house .... 89 

25. Chrysanthemums grown in a grapery . 91 

26. Types of hardy Chrysanthemums . 106 



27. Chrysantheuuims in Australia . 119 

28. Chrysanthemum, Cheltoni 136 

29. Chrysanthemum, Soleil d'Octobrc . . . 137 

30. Chrysanthenmm, Wm. Duckham . . . 138 

31. Chrysanthemum, Mrs. Henry Robinson . 139 

32. The Baby Chrysanthemum .... 144 



CHAPTEE I 

Introductory Notes 

The world-wide popularity of the Chrysanthemum 
and the prominence accorded it among cultivated 
flowers in America are ample justification for this 
addition to the literature of the flower. 

The subject as a whole is an alluring one and 
it is no matter for surprise that some writers have* let 
speculative fancy run riot among the recorded facts 
of the Chrysanthemum's gradual evolution when trac- 
ing its progressive development from its earliest types 
up to those that represent it today. It is not uncom- 
mon, this effort to show modern achievement to be a 
logical outcome of the past, irrespective of conditions. 
To sustain this conclusion there should be in the 
Orient today more flowers of the same uniform high 
characteristics as those we are so familiar with of 
domestic origin. 

It is only natural, now that the progeny has 
attained such merit and high distinction, we should 
manifest considerable interest in the parents of the 
modern Chrysanthemum, and review through genera- 
tions some of the present day glory reflected from 
their children. 

Confucius mentions the Chrysanthemum in his 
Li-Ki, but the best history that can be compiled is 
fragmentary, incomplete and spread over centuries. 
A compilation of accepted facts, however, is given 
elsewhere in this book for the interest it will naturally 
have to those who love this flower. A glance thereat 
will show that the Chrysanthemum which has won the 



2 THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 

favor and esteem of thousands of its votaries of today 
is essentially a modern type developed under changed 
conditions, in new environments. Its development 
along the lines that characterize it today began in 
Europe, later in America and more recently in 
Australia and 'New Zealand. 

There are many Chrysanthemums in cultivation 
today that do not in any material degree differ from 
the early type of centuries ago; simple, modest, easily- 
grown flowers, suggesting nothing of their long and 
distinguished lineage. The present era of Chrysanthe- 
mum popularity has helped to bring these into greater 
prominence. They have a wide sphere of usefulness 
and adaptability. The essential purpose of this book, 
however, is to assist and direct the efforts of those who 
would grow and excel in the production of large flowers, 
such as are seen at the exhibitions and in the flower 
stores each recurring season. 

It is undoubtedly the large Chrysanthemum that 
has given the impetus to culture and won for it a 
position of promising permanence. It is inconceivable 
that a flower so great, yet withal so graceful, enliven- 
ing the waning year, can ever come into marked 
disfavor, especially having regard to its inherent 
variability which insures continuity of interest in the 
expectation of new creations. The stamp of public 
approval is upon the flower. The aim of this work is 
to enhance and enlarge its cultivation by describing 
in proper sequence, ways and means. 

The successful grower may find herein nothing 
new, nothing he did not already know. The endeavor 
has been to show that not in secret arts and practices, 
but in a plain course of procedure, as herein set forth, 
are attained the results as demonstrated. 



CHAPTER II 

Culture for Exhibition 

In numbers and extent of culture the Chrysanthe- 
mum probably ranks next to the Rose and the Carna- 
tion. But as an exhibition flower it stands pre-eminent 
and in its brief season holds undisputed sway. No 
flower has ever been so generally and so successfully 
exploited for shows, and the enthusiasm is manifested 
in the holding of scores of exhibitions from Canada 
to the Gulf of Mexico and from the Atlantic to the 
Pacific. This intensive cultivation for exhibition dif- 
fers only from ordinary cultivation in that it is a 
concentration of effort toward bringing each variety 
to the highest pitch of attainable excellence in form, 
finish and size; and though some decry the big blooms 
as coarse, and question the taste of those who admire 
them, yet the votaries of the exhibition blooms are in 
the majority and they have ample justification to 
sustain their desire for them. It is not the ordinary 
horse, the range cattle, the dog of the streets, nor the 
common barnyard fowl that attract visitors to the live 
stock exhibitions, although these all fill their allotted 
niche in the world's economy. Likewise, if we cease 
to grow and hold exhibitions of Chrysanthemums, the 
interest in the flower, the incentive to develop, improve 
old, and originate new varieties, may be expected to 
wane. Exhibition flowers are not a product of secret 
practices, but of cultural exactitude, from start to 
finish, doing the right thing, in the right way, at the 
proper moment, in short, a careful observance of 



4 THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 

multitudinous details as set forth in the pages of 
this work. 

PROPAGATION 

In all its stages the Chrysanthemum is a plant 
easy to grow and easy to propagate. Carelessness is 
begotten of ease, and future hopes may be foundered 
at the start by the very simplicity of the commence- 
ment. In every case the strongest and the best cut- 
tings procurable should be selected. The time to 
think about the cuttings is immediately after the 
plants have ceased flowering. Two to three months 
have then to elapse before they are actually required, 
and it is just in this period of the plant's comparative 
inactivity that proper treatment is most essential and as 
often is neglected. If the plants are allowed to stand 
around in any out-of-the-way place, perhaps even 
under the greenhouse bench, without regard to tem- 
perature or light, and to make a weak, attenuated 
growth, they will produce cuttings that will grow into 
plants, but not such as produce exhibition blooms. To 
raise these, immediately after flowering the old plants 
must be given ^ light, airy position and the best atten- 
tion in a temperature of about forty degrees; and in 
return they will give the right kind of cuttings when 
time for propagation arrives. 

Another method that has been followed with 
marked success, with economy of space, and that avoids 
the retaining of a lot of old plants, is to take a batch 
of cuttings of each variety in November, root these in 
sand; when rooted, plant into flats and treat the same 
as old plants. When growing nicely the young plants 
may be pinched once and they will break into several 
shoots which make admirable cuttings, even better than 
those secured from the old stock. If the old plants are 
to be relied upon for the future cuttings, they should 



CULTURE FOR EXPIIBITIOK 



5 



be encouraged to start vigorously, by giving them a 
light, airy position, and, if bench space can be spared, 
it would pay to plant them out in a light, open com- 
post. Even plants that have been kept in pots are 
greatly benefited by being thus planted, as the old soil 
about the roots is exhausted or sour, and 'the little 




Fig. 2 — A CUTTING READY FOR INSERTION 



fresh soil will be found a great stimulus to the pro- 
duction of a healthy growth of shoots for cuttings. 
Ohr3'santhemums may be propagated from Jan- 
uary to June according to the purposes for which they 
are to be grown, but plants that are to be grown solely 
for exhibition blooms should be propagated during 
March or early in April. If the old plants have been 



6 THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 

rightly treated tliey will have abimdance of growth, 
suitable for cuttings by the first week in March. 
European growers propagate much earlier, in Decem- 
ber and Januar}', but this is necessitated by the cooler 
climate and diminished sunshine. A careful test was 
conducted with plants propagated in January and 
others of the same variety in March, but the results 
did not show any gain in favor of the earlier date as 
applying to the general collection. An occasional 
exception may arise when a particular variety, naturally 
of slow growth, may be benefited by earlier propaga- 
tion. The variety ^lajor Bonnaffon was one, but a wise 
general rule, for our practice, is to get all exhibition 
stock propagated in March. 

Selection of the cuttings calls for some careful 
discrimination. There are shoots to avoid as well as 
shoots to propagate, but selection is easy in the 
majority of varieties which throw up around the base 
of the old stem an abundance of clean, straight young 
shoots, any of which cut off when about three inches 
in lengtli, cut to a joint and the lower leaf removed, 
makes a suitable cutting, as shown in Fig. 2. The 
shoots to avoid are any that may be yellow, weak or 
unhealthy, and more especially any that show an 
embryo flower bud at the tip. x\n exception to 
this last undesirable condition has occasionally to 
be made, as a few varieties are addicted to this prema- 
ture bud development, for example, Viviand Morel and 
W. E. Church, but they will, shortly after rooting, 
develop a growing shoot from a latent axillary bud. 
As soon as possible after the cuttings have been taken 
oif and prepared, they should be inserted in the medium 
in which they are to be rooted. 

The usual custom is to insert the cuttings in a 
bed of clean, sharp sand in a propagating house, 
similar to the methods pursued for Eoses and Carna- 



CULTURE FOR EXHIBITION 



tions, but cooler treatment is necessary, no bottom teat 
is needed and a temperature of fifty degrees is suf- 
ficient. The bed should be given a thorough watering 
when the cuttings are in, and if the house is not on 




Fig. 3 — YOUNG PLANT IN RIGHT CONDITION FOR FIRST 
POTTING 

a northern aspect they must be shaded from bright 
sun, and be slightly sprayed overhead on bright days, 
the aim being to keep them in a fresh, plump con- 
dition till roots are emitted. Small growers having a 
few plants, and who have not the convenience of a 
propagating house, may prefer to insert the cuttings 



8 THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 

singly in small pots. These should be filled with 
light sandy soil, and the surface of the soil covered 
with sand, inserting one cutting in each pot. A small 
frame or some hand glasses should be available to 
cover them till rooted, the general treatment being 
the same. The cuttings in the sand bed should be 
rooted and in a condition for potting in from two to 
three weeks. The}^ will soon show their readiness by 
their sturdy look and disposition to commence growing, 
and should be taken in hand immediately. 

It is a great mistake to leave them standing in 
the sand till they have made two or three inches of 
growth, for there is no nutriment in the sand, the 
growth so made is naturally weak, and the check 
experienced when they are potted is a severe one, with 
resultant loss of valuable time before the young plants 
recover and get established in the soil. The roots, 
too, get long apd straggling and are greatly injured 
in the removal. When the roots have attained about 
an inch in length is the best time to pot the young 
plants. Fig. 3 shows a rooted cutting in just the right 
condition for potting so that it will take to the soil 
and grow on without serious check or loss of time. 

TREATMENT OF YOUNG PLANTS 

"When the rooted cuttings are taken from the prop- 
agating bed they should be potted singly in small 
pots, or if a very large number are being grown it 
may be found more convenient to plant them in small 
boxes or "flats." From now onward applied skill 
counts. If the plants are started rightly in their 
initial stage the future will be one of continuous 
progression. The compost or soil into which they are 
to be potted is the first and most important considera- 
tion. It should be light, open, sweet and conducive 
to free rooting, with a resultant sturdy, short-jointed 



CULTURE POR EXIIIBITIOJsT d 

growth *of the plant. This is best attained by using 
fibrous loam, mixing leaf soil therewith in the pro- 
portion of about one part to three of loam. A little 
wood ashes may be advantageously added, also sand 
if the loam is of a heavy, adhesive character, but stim- 
ulating manures must be avoided, for the plant is yet 
but an infant, incapable of assimilating rich food; 
and its presence in the soil at this stage of growth 
would retard progress. Growth cannot be forced in 
this early stage and any attempt to do so will result 
in disaster. 

After potting, the plants may remain in the 
greenhouse for a week or two until nicely established, 
meanwhile discretion in regard to watering must be 
exercised. For a few days a light spraying overhead 
may be all that is needed till the new roots commence 
to run freely in the soil, after which water will be 
required freely. As soon as possible, when conditions 
of weather permit, the plants should be taken out of 
the greenhouses and placed in cold frames. This may 
seem a small matter, entailing labor out of all pro- 
portion to apparent benefits, but the cold frame treat- 
ment induces a short-jointed, sturdy growth, vigor 
and hardiness of constitution not attainable in the 
greenhouse, especially if artificial heat is used. Should 
frost occur at night it is an easy matter to protect 
the tender plants by covering the frames with mats. 

When they are first placed in the frames care 
must be exercised in giving air, but after a week or 
ten days air may be applied freely when the temper- 
ature is above forty degrees, and on warm, genial days 
the sash may be drawn off entirely and the plants will 
revel in the atmospheric conditions. When high drying 
winds prevail, it is better not to thus expose the plants 
or they will dry out too fast and need watering every 
hour, but the sash may be tilted from the direction 



10 THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 

opposite to the wind. As the season advances and 
the weather gets warmer the sash may be left off 
entirely. The young plants will be greatly benefited 
by careful syringing, not soaking them with excess of 
water, but a thorough wetting of the foliage with a 
light, dewy spray, especially toward the close of a warm, 
drying day. A careful guard must be maintained 
against insect pests, both green and black fly being 
liable to appear and to speedily work gi^eat injury by 
crippling the growing tips of the 3^oung plants. At 
this stage sprinkling with tobacco dust is a safe and 
most effectual remedy. 



CHAPTER III 

Composts 

Chrysanthemums can be grown in every kind of 
soil with a certain measure of success, and it often 
happens that the grower has to do the best he can 
with what he knows to be an unsuitable medium. But 
the grower whose aim is to get as near perfection as 
possible, gives time and thought to the preparation 
of tlie soil in which his plants are to be finally planted 
or potted to grow up to maturity, knowing well that 
errors in this regard may defeat the best of skill. As 
tiie plastic clay is in tlie hands of tlie molder, so in 
much the same manner must the compost be to tlie 
grower, capal)le, as it were, of accelerating or restrain- 
ing in its efi^ects in accordance with the planfs needs. 

At the start, its adaptability to encourage free, 
vigorous growth is most essential, with ample food 
stores to keep the ])lant progressing, but large addi- 
tional food stores both in liquid and solid form must 
•later be added, and this involves attention to the 
mechanical texture, so that the later applications of 
plant food may be received into the plant's larder with- 
out causing stagnation of the soil or congestion of the 
plant's root system. In short, the soil selected should 
have body or consistency to sustain growth, and 
porosity to permit of the free passage of water. There 
is nothing better than rotted sod, and if good sod 
be obtainable, its preparation should begin some time 
in advance. 

Late in tlie fall of the previous year a compost 
heap may be put togetlier by stacking the sod, grass 



12 THE chrysa:^themum 

side downward, and intermingling layers of good, 
fresh cow manure in the proportion of four loads of 
sod to one of manure. This will break down in spring 
into a nice, free working compost, and will be im- 
proved by the addition of some wood ashes or burnt 
refuse from tlie garden crematory, also the addition of 
a little bone meal will complete a compost that is all- 
sufficient for the plant's needs through the first stage 
of its career. 

If preparation of the compost be left entirely till 
spring the addition of 'fresh cow or horse manure 
should be avoided; that which has been lying in a 
heap for some time, and is decayed, should be chosen 
instead, as the fresh product is altogether too stim- 
ulating, and inimical to strong, healthy growth. If 
the loam is of a close or adhesive character sufficient 
sand should be added to make it work freely and to 
keep it open by thorouglily mixing with it this and 
any other suitable ingredients, so as to ensure perfect 
incorporation by turning the heap at least twice. 
From the foregoing it will be seen that a good loam is 
the foundation and chief bulk of a proper Chrysan- 
themum compost and the added material is solely for 
ameliorating the condition of the soil or to further 
enrich it. The amount of added materials must in all 
cases be chiefly determined by the quality and texture 
of the soil at command. 

To achieve success, a grower must know his soil 
and treat it accordingly, and his success is just in 
proportion to the extent of his understanding it and 
interpreting its needs. It is not as some, even at 
this date, suppose, due to the possession of a secret 
formula, a fanciful mixture of a variety of ingredi- 
ents. There is nothing of m3^stery nor of uncertainty 
in preparing a proper compost. All it requires is the 
recognition of the fundamental fact that the Chrysan- 



COMPOSTS 13 

themum of today is a gross feeder, and needs a soil 
fully enriched to the point of safety at the start, and 
to which additional food may be added by methods 
heretofore described in accordance with the necessities 
of the plant's growth. 



CHAPTER IV 

Planting Benches, Boxes or Pots 

In regard to future culture, American methods 
differ widely from those of European countries, 
where pot culture prevails, and the plants for many 
weeks stand in the open air. Extremes of climate 
debar such treatment here, for if the season be fine 
the scorching heat and drying winds are most adverse, 
Avhile in a wet season the heavy rains keep the plants 
continually soaked so that healthy growth is an impos- 
sibility. Except in the South and the extreme West, 
the large-flowered types of Chrysanthemum, whether 
for exhibition or for commercial cut flower culture, 
must, from the final jootting or planting, be kept en- 
tirely under glass for the remainder of their season. 
To this there can be no excej)tion. But the manner 
of growing the plants under glass may be varied to 
meet the requirements of the place. 

It has been demonstrated many times that the 
very best of exhibition flowers can be grown upon the 
average American greenhouse bench, which provides 
four inches of soil; therefore those who have a house 
with such benches may unhesitatingly adopt that 
method. Little need here be said about bench con- 
struction, which may be cheap and of lumber entirely, 
needing frequent renewal, or permanent of tile and 
cement. Beyond this the bench is better raised above 
the ground, if onl}^ one foot, the hight, of course, being 
chiefly determined by the style of hmise and available 
hight for the plants to grow. The length is deter- 
mined by the house, but the width is a matter for 



PLANTING BENCHES,, BOXES OR TOTS 15 

careful conpideration. If the house can be practically 
and economically so arranged it is desirable to have 
no bench for Chrysanthemums wider than four feet. 
Such a bench will accommodate five rows of plants, 
and its center is at all times easily accessible fi"oni 
either side, although this is not the paramount con- 
sideration. A full circulation of air among the plants 
is at all times desirable and not always easy of attain- 
ment in the still, hot, humid days of August. In 
benches wider than here stated the central rows of 
plants will not grow as strong, nor produce generally 
as fine flowers, and should leaf spot or any diseases 
•of the foliage apj^ear, they will be difficult to control. 

Several years of experience with benches up to 
six feet in widtli confirmed the observation that the 
wide bench was a predisposing factor to attack when 
detrimental atmospheric conditions prevailed. A four- 
foot bench will accommodate five rows of plants, each 
row ten inches apart, and there sho-uld be a space of 
at least nine inches between the plants in the rows. 
An occasional small-leaved variety will stand closer 
planting, but in a^ general way the distance given 
should be the rule. 

In preparing the bench for planting, careful 
attention should be given to the drainage. The open 
spaces between the boards should be covered with 
some coarse material, such as the rougher portions of 
the compost heap, so as to ensure keeping them open 
for the passage of water. If fresh sod or turf be 
plentiful a good plan is to cut some of this and lay 
it, grass side down, over the drainage spaces. It will 
keep them open throughout the season and the roots 
will not be averse to it when they get within its reach. 
The bench should be filled well up level to the top, as 
the necessary firming of the soil after planting will 
reduce it to the right level. 



16 



THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 



If propagation and t^ubsequent treatment have been 
along the lines recommended the plants will be in the 
best condition for planting by May and there should 
be no delay in getting the plants in the benches. 




Fig. 



PORTABLE BOX WITH SIX PLANTS 



The first half of the month of May is a perfectly safe 
time in which to complete planting, nor is it safe to 
defer planting till a later date if the best grade of 
exhibition flowers is the object. As many kinds will 
be grown, of varying bights, and not a few having 
other peculiarities that call for special or extra careful 



PLANTING BENCHES, BOXES OR POTS IT 




Fig. 5 WELL STARTED YOUNG PLANT FOR BENCH 

PLANTING OR REPOTTING 



treatment later, it is better to keep them in groups 
or blocks across the bench than to extend them to the 



18 THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 

limit in line, as by so doing the grower has them 
under better control. A^arieties differ, often to a 
marked degree, in their requirements both as to water 
and food, and when these peculiarities are known, 
advantage ma}^ be taken thereof in the arrangement 
of the plants upon the benches previous to the planting, 
so as to simplify future operations. 

To start the plants growing rightly, it is most 
important to plant firmly. Equal care should be given 
to every plant, by making the soil immediately 
surrounding it thoroughly firm. If the soil be 
naturally inclined to be light and on the dry side at 
planting time, hand pressure may not suffice, but 
should be supplemented by pounding with a half brick 
or something similarly suitable. When all the plants 
are in position, the entire soil of the bench must be 
firmed in the same manner, leaving a small depression 
around each plant to retain the water, which for the 
first few waterings must be given to the plant only, 
without watering the entire body of soil. When plant- 
ing and compacting the soil are completed the 
surface should be one inch below the edges of the 
bench, not only to facilitate watering but to permit of 
subsequent top dressing. 

The same methods may be pursued, and with equal 
success, by planting into portable boxes of a conven- 
ient size. A box five feet long and nine inches wide 
will accommodate six plants, as seen in Fig. 4, or a 
square box may be made to contain the same number. 
Some of the best flowers ever shown in this country 
were grown in just such boxes. The plan has much 
to recommend it to those who grow a limited number 
of plants, or who may not have sufficient room to give 
up a whole house entirely to Chrysanthemums. It has 
the additional merit of the availability of the plants 
for decorative use, wherever desired, when so grown. 



PLANTING BENCHES^ BOXES Oil POTS ID 




Fig. 



Q — ^ FLAT OF GOOD PLANTING STOCK 



Pot culture for exhibition blooms is only occasionally 
practiced in this country and perhaps more from neces- 
sity than from choice. The plants are then potted into 



30 THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 

eight-inch pots, but in all other respects the treatment 
is the same, as even the potted plants must be kept 
under glass all the time. A young plant well started 
in life and suitable for bench planting or growing on 
in a larger pot is seen in Fig. 5. A flat of good 
planting stock is shown in Fig. G. 



CHAPTEE Y 

General Cultural Details 

In about one week after planting, the young 
plants will begin to show signs of renewed activity. 
Let them start clean. The only thing likely to infest 
them at this early date is green, or black fly, and 
every effort should be made to extirpate these pests 
immediately the plants are in their permanent 
quarters, by sprinkling with tobacco dust or by several 
successive fumigations. Neglect to do so will have 
disastrous consequences that can hardly be remedied. 
Moreover, once started into a clean, vigorous growth, 
this satisfactory condition will probably continue for 
many weeks without a renewed attack. It is now 
entirely a question of the grower playing the master 
hand, with a full realization of the fact that the grow- 
ing period is a time of little things, an infinity of 
apparently trifling details, not one of which, however, 
can be trifled with. The measure of success ultimately 
attained is just in proportion to the attention given 
to detail, and the doing each day, and week, the 
things necessary to be done, promptly and efficiently. 

VENTILATION 

Our American method of growing Chrysanthe- 
mums entirely under glass, though necessitated by the 
uncertainty and changeableness of weather, is still 
somewhat of an unnatural cultural condition. This 
has to be compromised or remedied by free and abund- 
ant ventilation. Of all the plants we grow beneath 



22 THE CirUYSAXTITEMUn 

the glass, Chrysantliemums give least trouble in this 
regard. When planting is finished all the ventilating 
sash, top and bottom, should be thrown open, and the 
doors likewise, forgetting that they are open, fo*" they 
need not be closed for several months, except in the 
emergency of violent summer windstorms, when they 
may have to Ije closed for a short period to preserve 
the house intact. All the summer air currents should 
be allowed to circulate freely through the house, 
among the plants, and when the air is superheated, 
or of scorching aridity, it is the work of the grower 
to charge it with essential moisture, or in other words, 
create a growing atmosphere within the house. How 
best and how often it may be necessary to do this, 
brings us to the consideration of that all important, 
detail — 

WATERING 

To the misuse of water may be attributed most 
of the failures or shortcomings in all plant culture. 
There is no art in the application of this essential 
element, but a well balanced judgment, born of keen 
observation alone, can guide the grower. Man has 
systematized .his feeding, and for convenience adheres to 
fixed periods. The inexperienced amateur may, there- 
fore, be pardoned for asking at what hour and how 
many times a day he should water his plants. Under 
glass the grower has his plants in perfect control and 
it becomes a test of his knowledge and ability. 

No definite instructions can be laid down as to 
time of application, as so many diverse conditions arise. 
The only way to extend a helping hand is to cite 
general conditions governed entirely by watering and 
to point out the evils that arise from either excess or 
insufficiency. The desired condition of the soil is one 
of uniform moisture in all its parts, so as to encourage 



GENERAL CULTURAL DETAILS 23 

the roots to work freely, and build np a robust plant. 
If the roots be too dry it is obvious there must be 
a resultant check to growth, through the inability of 
the roots to gather supplies. The check may be slight, 
and the cause of temporary duration, and soon rectified, 
but a repetition of the error may follow several times, 
till the plant gets into a thin, hard condition of growth 
beyond hope of rectification, and consequently is 
utterly unable to attain ultimate possible perfection 
of bloom. 

In an opposite direction an excess of water leads 
to saturation of the soil, which from lack of aeration 
becomes sour, the roots fail in the proper performance 
of their functions, and evidence of the same is soon 
apparent in an unhealthy looking plant of a sickly 
yellow color. Immediately after planting the utmost 
care must be exercised and only the soil immediately 
surrounding the plant need be watered. About two 
weeks after planting will generally be soon enough for 
watering the entire surface of the bench, and from 
that time onward, water must be given as required, 
and each time in sufficient quantity to wet the bed 
of soil thoroughly throughout. The closest attention 
to watering must be maintained, especially through the 
hot weather in July and i\.ugust, but as shorter cooler 
days arrive, a diminished need will manifest itself. 
Water at the root alone, however, does not suffice to 
build up robust plants that will, later, be crowned with 
noble flowers. 

During the heated period transpiration of mois- 
ture from the leaves of the plant will be more rapid 
than the roots can supply. To counteract or check this 
excessive evaporation and to maintain from start to 
finish a vigorous leaf growth, recourse must be had 
to syringing and overhead watering, as well as for the 



24 THE CHRYSAXTIIEMUK 

purpose of warding off attacks of insect pests. Over- 
head spraying of the plants must therefore be frequent 
and thorough, to keep the atmosphere well charged 
with moisture, but wetting the soil in the benches too 
much must be avoided, and care exercised that any 
slight wetting of the surface soil may not mislead as 
to its actual condition of moisture beneath the surface. 
This overhead spraying, to be thoroughly effective, 
should be light and frequently given. It may be 
necessary five or six times a day during great heat and 
drouth, and not confined to the plants alone, but the 
roof inside should be sprayed as well, and the floor of 
the house thoroughly wetted down. Overhead watering 
should be greatly diminished as summer wanes and 
the need for it is no longer paramount. A light, 
thorough spraying of the plants must be kept up, 
however, as an antidote to insect pests, but careful 
judgment must be used with the advent of cooler days, 
or it may induce, other leaf diseases of a fungous 
nature. After the beginning of September it is well 
not to spray the foliage after 3 p. m., so that the plants 
will be dry by night. 

TYING 

Preparations must be made in the early stages of 
the young plants' growth for their subsequent tying 
and training, a comparatively easy matter when they 
are grown upon benches. Several systems are prac- 
ticed. Some run lines of wire along each row of 
plants a few inches above the soil, and corresponding 
lines of wire three, four or more feet high, stretching 
the wires tight to braced iron or wooden frames 
attached to the ends of the benches. Strings are then 
tied perpendicularly, and the plants tied to the strings 
as they grow up. For strongly growing exhibition 



GENERAL CULTURAL DETAILS 25 

Chrysanthemums this method has marked disadvan- 
tages, especially in its lack of stability as the flowers 
attain size and weight. 

Probably the best way to train the exhibition 
stock is to strain overhead wires as before advised at 
hights approximating that of the growth of the varie- 
ties; then placing to each plant one of the ordinary 
commercial galvanized wire plant stakes, which are 
held in position by the soil at the base, and can be 
securely tied to the wires above. These make light, 
neat and rigid supports, at all times, and are much 
to be preferred to cane stakes, which, from their 
thickness, when used in large number, cast consider- 
able shade upon the young plants. These wire stakes 
are obtainable in varying lengths up to six feet, and 
last indefinitely, and, moreover, something may be said 
for their cleanliness as compared with strings and 
canes that harbor insects when any of these pests 
abound. 

SIDE SHOOTS AND SUCKERS 

The removal of superfluous growth is an operation 
that entails a lot of patient labor, but nevertheless calls 
for efficient performance. After the plants are grow- 
ing vigorously, lateral growth in the form of side 
shoots arising from the axil of each leaf will appear 
continuously. All these should be pinched out, or 
rubbed out, as soon as they are large enough to handle, 
observing due care not to injure the main leaves, also 
not allowing these shoots to grow unduly, as they 
quickly will. This is just one of the operations that 
can be put off' till tomorrow without apparent harm, 
but is better done today, as each day for many days 
will have its quota of superfluous .growths needing 
removal. Prompt action in this keeps the plant's 
energies concentrated u])on the main stem, and delay 



2G THE CTTnYSAXTTTE:\rrM 

means a wasting of the same energies in nourishing 
growth to be subsequently removed. The early morn- 
ing hours will be found a good time to do this work, 
as the shoots are fresh and firm and rub out easily 
and much more quickly than in the later hours of 
bright sunshine. The work is tedious, but it has com- 
pensating advantages. One becomes so closely ob- 
servant of the minor differences and peculiarities of 
varieties as to be able ultimately to know them all at 
a glance, without reference to labels. As the season 
advances there will be suckers, or shoots, from the 
roots and base of the plant, pushing through the soil, 
and starting up on a career of their own, in imitation 
of their parents. At this stage of growing they are 
robbers of the parental larder and speedy removal 
must be the penalty for them, or they will soon 
penalize the grower's hopes and ambitions, but their 
removal may cease as the flowers attain maturity, for 
these self-same shoots are to furnish the future re- 
quired stock. 



CHAPTER VI 

Crown and Terminal Buds 

^'Taking tlie bud'' is a term in common use with 
all Clirysantlicmnm growers^ but the expression is 
paradoxical and may, in part, account for the hazy, 
uncertain notions that generally prevail, especially 
among amateurs, in regard to this most important 
detail. Good culture availeth nothing if from want 
of actual knowledge there be an improper or untimely 
selection of the bud that is to develop ultimately into 
a flower. The bud question, therefore, is one calling 
for close, careful observation. It is a matter, too, upon 
which many who might be presumed to know are not 
really well informed, especially as to the appearance, 
cliaracteristic features, different possibilities and treat- 
ment of the several buds that appear upon the plants 
during their season of growth. 

For the benefit of the uninitiated it should first 
be stated that the term "taking the bud" means in 
actual practice, selecting the bud. The operation of 
"taking'' it is the removal of surrounding shoots or buds 
so as to concentrate the plant's entire energies upon the 
bud "taken" or selected for future flowering. The 
matter is somewhat abstruse because the Chrysanthe- 
mum has marked peculiarities of bud development as 
compared with other flowering plants we grow. A bud 
formed upon a Eose or a Carnation develops into a 
fl.ower at any time or season of the year. Chrysan- 
themums form buds that never advance beyond an 
incipient stage, a temporary cessation of growth is 



28 THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 

apparent, then nature, as it were, comes to the rescue 
with renewal of growth continued for a few weeks, 
when another bud appears. There is a period when 
man can safely arrest the natural course of things and 
by timely selection of bud and manipulation of growth 
secure a larger flower than would be ordinarily pro- 
duced were the plant left to its own inclination and 
permitted to continue on to that stage of completed 
growth and final bud formation. 

To make the nature and time of appearance of the 
several buds thoroughly understood, we must, in imag- 
ination, follow the plant through its course of growth. 
If the plants were planted, as advised, early in May, 
they will have attained a length of about eighteen 
inches by the middle of June and for a few days 
growth apparently ceases. A close examination will 
show that a flower bud has formed at the top of the 
growing plant right in the point of the shoot ; this bud 
would not attain to maturity, therefore no thought is 
given to selecting it. It makes what growers tech- 
nically call the first break, and appropriately so, be- 
cause it is a break in the continuity of growth which 
ceases at the point of the bud's formation. These buds 
may be pinched out, although this is not an absolute 
necessity, as the plant immediately proceeds to de- 
velop other shoots which spring from the axil or base 
of the leaf stalk of the leaves just below the bud. A 
number of these new growths appear, all of which 
could, of course, be continued and would grow up and 
produce flowers. Our object, however, is one large 
bloom on a single stem, therefore the plant's energies 
must be again directed in a single channel by the 
selection of one of the several shoots and the removal 
of the others. The best placed shoot nearest to the 
bud, which generally is the second shoot below the bud. 



CROWN AXD TERMINAL BUDS 29 

is consequently chosen to continue growth, and all the 
others are pinched or rubbed out. 

xls growth continues the shoot is tied up, thus 
continuing the single stem, but the point is well 
marked upon every plant where it made the first break 
by an excrescence or knot in the stem. There is no 
definite time when this first break occurs, as it is gov- 
erned by the conditions of the plant's growth, and also 
varies with different varieties, some attaining twice the 
hight of others before the break manifests itself. The 
break, however, does, to some extent, determine the time 
when the next bud will form. At some time during 
July and August all the plants will make a "second 
break," or, in other words, will form buds and thereby 
cause another temporary cessation of growth with the 
incidental conditions as before described. The buds 
formed then are what growers call "crown buds" and 
from them they obtain the largest and best exhibition 
blooms, but only by a properly timed selection of them. 
If they appear at a too early date it is futile to "take" 
them, and the same course must be 2)ursued as before 
of allowing the shoots to develop, then select the best 
one, and remove the remainder. 

This shoot will grDW on and produce a bud that 
can be taken with assurance of its subsequent develop- 
ment. These buds are known to growers as "second 
crown buds." Fig. 7 shows a plant that made an 
"early break," also a "second break," at a date too early 
for the bud to be taken, and is well advanced toward 
the stage of producing a third "break" with its accom- 
panying "second crown" bud. This illustration closely 
examined will materially assist in making clear the 
foregoing remarks. The knot or irregularity in the 
stem near its base shows where a bud formed in June 
when the plant was about eighteen inches high. An- 



30 



THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 




Fig. 7 PORTION OF PLANT SHOWING FIRST BREAK, ALSO 

WHERE FIRST CROWN BUD APPEARED 

other eighteen inches of growth is made and again a 
bud api3ears, a first croAvn bud, but its a^Dpearance is 



CROWN AND TERMINAL BUDS 



31 



too earlv^ so it is not "'"talven/' but the best placed shoot 
is continuing the growth and will produce a second 
crown bud early in September. Several leaves were 



V, 


^ 


■^^a 


u^SJ^ 


Tfc^ 


i \M^ ^BnyL'"\ 


^ 


^^^hI^ ^^^^^. 



Fig. 8 — A CROWN BUD READY TO "TAKE' 



removed from the plant photographed, at the points 
where the buds appear, to more plainly indicate the 
purpose of the illustration. ±\ careful study of it and 
a comparison with growing plants in the same stage 



32 



THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 




Fig. 9- 



-TERMINAL BUDS 



should enable the amateur to grasp the principle 
underlying the selection of buds. 



CROWN AND TEKMIXAL BUDS 



33 




Fig. 10 — ^A SECOND CROWN BUD, AND TER:MINAL BUDS 

ALLOWED TO DEVELOP UPON THE SAME ,PLAKT 

TO ILLUSTRATE THE DIFFERENCE 



Fig. 8 shows the upper portion of the plant that 
has advanced to the stage where the hud should 
immediately be taken, if in right time. In actual 



34 THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 

practice the bud would have been taken and the two 
shoots below it pinched out before they had made so 
much growth, but this particular plant was permitted 
to grow to an advanced stage to better illustrate all 
that pertains to the crown bud. All crown buds look 
alike and are alike in this respect, they are single buds 
surrounded with bracts or partially developed leaves. 
Just below the bud illustrated two shoots appear, 
which, as before explained, would be pinched out if 
the bud were to be taken. Should the grower fail to 
take this bud or should it show deformity or have been 
injured in any way by insects, it can be removed and 
another shoot selected to continue the growth of the 
plant. As a general rule, the second shoot below the 
bud is the stronger and better placed, as is seen in the 
illustration, the shoot on the left side of the crown 
bud being obviously the better of the two to retain 
foi* continued growth. 

The bud formed by this shoot is called the 
"terminal bud," and is all that the name implies, be- 
cause it is the culmination of the plant's effort for the 
year, the final bud produced. Here, instead of one 
bud, with embryo shoots at its base, there is a cluster 
of buds, one central and a little larger than the rest, 
with several others immediately surrounding or just< 
below it. If large flowers be desired it now becomes 
necessary to take the terminal bud, by rubbing out all 
except the central one as soon as it can be safely done 
without injury to the bud that is to remain, or if 
there be evidence of injury to the leading bud, then it 
should be removed and the best one of those surround- 
ing it retained. These points are plainly illustrated 
in Figs. 9 and 10, and the grower cannot go astray ou 
buds if he keep these facts in mind. A crown bud, 
no matter at what date it appears, is a single bud with 



CR0W2T AND TERMINAL BUDS 35 

sundry growths below. A terminal bud represents the 
completion of the year's growth and is easily distin- 
guished by its cluster of contiguous smaller buds. 

WHEN TO TAKE THE BUDS 

A properly timed selection of the buds is of the 
first importance^ as this has a direct bearing upon the 
quality of the flower produced. A crown bud taken 
in July would develop to a certain stage but ultimately 
only a few of the outer petals would expand, as seen 
in Fig. 11. Buds taken at a little later date may 
expand all right, but the flowers, while not deficient 
in size, may be coarse and flat; if taken too late the 
resulting flowers are neat but small, and, in the case 
of some exhibition varieties, late or terminal buds will 
often throw single flowers, or flowers having a large 
open center. The successful exhibitor takes the crown 
bud in every case when he can possibly secure it, be- 
cause from this bud, if properly timed and rightly 
treated, the largest flower is obtained, which in 
character and finish is the equal of those from 
terminal buds, while far surpassing them in size, sub- 
stance and solidity, by reason of the gi-eatly increased 
number of petals that enter into its formation. 
Crown buds in different stages of development are seen 
in Fig. 12. 

The time to "take" the buds may vary slightly 
with particular varieties, but treating the matter in 
a general way, it is perfectly safe to take any bud that 
appears on or before August 20, in Xew Jersey or any 
other nearby States. This applies to the general col- 
lection; a few early flowering kinds may have their 
buds taken proportionately earlier; but the main crop 
of buds should, if possible, be taken from the date given 
and onward as they appear through the first ten days 



36 



THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 



of September. A difference of a few da3's makes a 
marked difference in certain varieties, so every one 




Fiff. 11 — A CROWN BUD TAKEN TOO EARLY 



must be observed, and, for future guidance, it is wise 
to keep notes of these dates. When growing a new 
variety for the first time, if buds be taken at intervals 




Fig. 12 — CKOWN BUDS IN DIFFERENT STAGES OF 
DEVELOPMENT 



38 THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 

of a few days and a record be kept, the approximate 
time can thus be learned. 

Buds may appear a week or a few days in advance 
of the desired date, and if not taken, would 
throw the next bud altogether too late. In such a case 
a little careful manipulation will enable the grower 
to hold the bud almost stationary till the desired 
period. Instead of removing all the shoots and im- 
mediately throwing all the plant's energy into the bud, 
as ordinarily occurs, let the shoots grow an inch or 
more and remove one or two each day till the best 
date has arrived for their entire removal. Buds that 
appear early can often be saved in this way by using 
a shoot for a short time as a safety valve to check 
undue forcing of the bud. 

European growers have another method of what 
they call "timing" the bud, that has not been prac- 
ticed in this country. It consists of stopping the 
growth of the plants by pinching out the growing tip. 
The object sought is to anticipate, as it were, the first 
break. The plant stopped does not then develop the 
break bud, but grows away again and goes on to the 
crown bud stage. They find merit in the practice, as 
it enables them to advance the date of the crown bud 
appearing, thus securing buds of late flowering varie- 
ties earlier than would occur in the natural course ^of 
growth. The need of a large number of varieties • at 
exhibition time probably gave rise to this practice. By 
it certain varieties are shown in perfecTtion two or three 
weeks earlier than they would develop normally, and 
others, naturally early but stopped and grown on to 
a second crown, are in a measure retarded. 

Cultural conditions are so different in this coun- 
try and our plants for exhibition blooms are grown in 
a period shorter by several months that the need of 



CROWN AND TERMINAL BUDS 



39 




Fig. 13 — FIRST AND SECOND CROWN BUDS, SHOWING 
RELATIVE DIFFERENCE IN HIGHTS OF PLANTS 



the general stopping is not apparent, but there may 
be a few individual varieties to which the practice 



40 THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 

miglit be advantageously applied. Judging from the 
dates for stopping given in the English lists a great 
number of plants are stopped there at a time when 
ours are but cuttings in the propagating bed. 

SOME OBJECTIONS TO CROWN BUDS 

There are growers who object to the cro'UTi bud, 
who confess their inability to handle it, or in other 
words to produce good flowers if this bud be taken. 
Yet they have no substantial ground for objection and 
it is certain that he who would be among the fortunate 
to attain awards at exhibitions must become proficient 
in the management of crown buds, whose flowers alto- 
gether outclass those from terminal buds. The reason 
for this is obvious. A crown bud properly timed is 
attaining size and developing petals, but if the grower 
neglect to take this bud, the plant has to grow again 
for three or four weeks before it throws the terminal 
bud. There will be little or no difference in the date 
of the flower expanding from the two buds, but there 
must naturally be a difference in the size attained. 
A month or more may elapse between the taking of 
two buds of the same variety, but this does not indicate 
that one flower will expand a month in advance of the 
other. The early bud is "marking time^' to some sub- 
stantial purpose. 

One more or less apparent objection to the 
eroAvn bud is the long neck that results through a 
continued growth of stem, almost or entirely devoid 
of foliage. The remedy for this is largely under the 
grower's control. There are a few exceptional varie- 
ties that will always have a long neck if the crown 
bud be taken, but collectively this objection cannot 
apply. If the plants have been grown as advised, and 
have strong, well ripened wood, the additional growth 



CROWN AND TERMINAL BUDS 41 

that follows after the bud has been taken will only 
be sufficient to give the developed flower the proper 
poise above the column of heavy foliage. A few inches 
of stem between leaf and flower shows the flower to 
better advantage than when it appears sitting right 
on the leaves. Others assert that the crown bud, with 
them, fails to open properly. This may be a result 
of error in after treatment, often of temperature, and 
is explained in another chapter. Certain varieties 
show marked variations in color according to the buds 
taken, and in some of these the crown bud must be 
avoided; these are exceptions to the general rule only. 
Some of the pink and red varieties come into this 
category, as, for example, Yiviand Morel, worthless 
on an early bud, and H. J. Jones, which is greatly 
enhanced in color beauty upon late buds, but at the 
expense of size. Experience alone can teach the 
grower, but if he want the finest Chrysanthemums 
nothing will compensate him for, and no after skill 
enable him to overcome, any neglect to secure crown 
buds throughout the general collection of varieties. 
The relative difference in bights of plants with first 
and second crown buds is seen in Fig. 13. 



CHAPTER yil 

Feeding — lis Object and Application 

The Chrysanthemum is a gross feeder and the 
successful grower is the man who, conscious of this 
fact, and observant of the plant's needs, furnishes it 
with rich food up to the limit of safety. The average 
grower looks at the results attained and imagines there 
is some dark secret process, the knowledge of which has 
been denied him. One of these latter remarked, upon 
seeing an extra fine batch of a variety he, too, was 
growing: ''You have a giganteum strain of Mrs. 
Henry Robinson. Where can I procure some of your 
stock?" While methods pursued may differ, it does 
not follow that each grower has his own carefully 
guarded secret. Soils diifer materially and guide the 
grower in adding thereto supplemental food stores for 
the plant to take up into its system to amplify its 
strength and future beauty. In all stages of growth 
the plants must be under observation, as they invari- 
ably indicate their own needs. As the drooping plant 
asks for water, and the unhealthy one, by its yellow 
color, indicates a superfluity of the same, so can the 
grower be guided in the need for and the application 
of food. 

The first essential is a healthy plant, one that is 
receptive and can therefore digest, as it were, the 
additional food supplied. If the advice given in 
previous chapters has been closely followed, it will be 
found, about the middle of July, that the plants, now 
having been grown two months in the benches, will 



FEEDING 43 

have more or less exhausted the limited larder in 
which it was best to start them. By observing them 
closely at this period, it will be noticed while color is 
uniform and denotes a healthy condition, there is a 
slight diminution of vigor manifested in smaller leaves, 
or the stem is not acquiring the desired body or thick- 
ness. Here is evidence of something needed, which 
pure water and a good growing atmosphere combined 
do not entirely supply. 

From this stage onward nourishing foods must be 
furnished in quantities and of materials most suitable. 
The start should be made gradually, as a surfeit of 
riches immediately applied will bring about disaster. 
A surface mulching of the benches with about one inch 
of some not too fresh natural manure is the best way to 
begin feeding. Preference should be given to cow 
manure, if obtainable, but not that fresh from the 
cow barn. It is better to take some that has lain in 
a heap for a few weeks and is well decomposed, or if 
a cow pasture be near at hand to go into the field and 
gather up the remains that have become more or less 
sun-dried and will make an excellent top dressing 
material. Failing this, half-rotted horse manure, such 
as comes from an old hotbed or a mushroom bed, 
may be used, or sheep manure, which can always be 
purchased from dealers; but if sheep manure be used, 
let it be in less quantity, as, though dry, it is rich in 
concentrated food and it is easy to err by applying it 
in excess. The soil should be barely covered in this 
case. Such a top dressing or mulching will soon show 
results in renewal of vigor. Each watering will carry 
down to the roots some portion of the fertilizing 
elements, and, in addition, the roots will soon be 
observed to come to the surface, and, ultimately per- 
meating the mulch^ to absorb its riches. 



44 



THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 



The only disadvantage that can be stated against 
this top dressing is that it covers up the surface of 




Fig. 14 FEEDING VERSUS ORDINARY CULTURE — SHOW- 
ING DIFFERENCE IN VIGOR OF TWO PLANTS OF 
THE SAME VARIETY 



the soil and helps to conserve moisture by checking 
surface evaporation, but it may mislead the grower 
as to the actual state of moisture in the soil. To avoid 
going astray one must see to it that the top dressing 



46 THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 

is put on loose and does not pack together, which, in 
any case, is essential for proper aeration, and when 
maintained in this condition, careful observation will 
enable the grower to know when water is needed. 
This top dressing should carry the plants along nicely 
for three or four weeks and bring them to the season 
of maximum feeding, when supplies must be liberal, 
varied in character and of frequent application. Here 
again the plants themselves must be the prompters, 
but, generally speaking, toward the end of August 
additional fertilizers in liquid form may be given, or 
an additional top dressing of some concentrated 
manure, and persistent feeding must be kept up 
throughout the month of September. In this matter 
the condition of the plants must be the main guide. 
Plants overfed may look pleasing to the eye in their 
vigor of gross growth, but this may be growth that will 
fail in the final test of finishing a perfect bloom. 
Vigor must be accompanied with firmness, a harden- 
ing, or, as growers usually term it, a ripening of the 
growth as shown in a hard, woody stem having little 
pith or core in the center. Given this condition, and 
feeding may be of the most liberal character, but 
until this condition is attained it is better to go light 
with feeding. 

Another axiom to guide the beginner in this 
matter is when all isMvell with the plants to wait 
until the buds are taken, which will be during 
the last part of August and the first few days of 
September, then when the buds are seen to be swelling 
nicely to assist them in every possible way, freely and 
continuously, till the buds begin to open and show 
color; then to discontinue. The effect of proper feed- 
ing upon the vigor of plants and the size of flowers 
is seen in Figs. 14 and 15. 



FEEDING 47 

CHOICE OF MANURES 

Whatever is applied from now on, as a fertilizer, 
must be something the feeding elements of which are 
immediately available for the plant's nse, therefore 
watering with manure water, made from one of the 
several natural animal manures, should be the basis 
and the bulk of the feeding. A change of diet, how- 
ever, is markedly beneficial, therefore no fixed formula 
can be laid down, nor any set rule be adhered to, 
except the one of the desirability of changing occa- 
sionally to the use of some chemical fertilizer, also 
applied in solution ; or to a light top dressing of one 
of the prepared, highly concentrated plant foods. 
Among the animal manures that from sheep or cows 
is most generally used, but horse manure need not be 
despised. Their relative strengths and feeding values 
are in the order named, with sheep manure as first 
choice. 

Methods of preparation depend upon facilities or 
convenience, but barrels are most commonly used, the 
manure being placed in a coarse bag and allowed to 
steep in the water two or three days. The resultant 
liquid is, of course, too strong to apply until it has 
been properly diluted, and the volume of pure water 
to be added must be left somewhat to individual judg- 
ment, and is also in part governed by whether feeding 
is to be light or heavy. At the start light feeding 
should be the rule and the strength of the liquid 
enhanced as conditions warrant. Those who have had 
little experience in these matters will not go far 
astray if they follow the old rule that advises making 
the liquid look like weak coffee, this being the 
minimum standard of strength, to be increased as 
desirable by less dilution. Those who have a large 
number of plants may greatly simplify the application 



48 THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 

of liquid fertilizers by the use of a simple little 
mechanism known as the "Kinney pump," and which, 
at the same time, insures uniform dilution and perfect 
mixing. It is a brass hose connection, one end being 
attached to the water tap, while at a right angle 
thereto is attached a small piece of hose that is put 
into the barrel of manure water. At the other end is 
connected the hose used in watering the plants. The 
water in passing through takes up a portion of the 
liquid fertilizer, the amount of which can be reg- 
ulated. It works admirably and is a great labor- 
saving device. In some places it is possible to obtain 
the drainings from the farm barns or horse stables, 
and this can be utilized in the same way as the 
specially prepared liquid, only taking due care to 
sufficiently dilute it. 

Manure from the hen roost or the pigeon loft is 
often procurable and has strong fertilizing elements, 
but the inexperienced should leave it alone or they 
may work untold injury in attempting its use. If 
used, a safe way would be as a top dressing, mixing 
it with at least six times its bulk of soil before apply- 
ing it to the plants. It can be used in solution, but the 
liquid should be made very weak. 

CHEMICAL FERTILIZERS 

These are used to alternate or vary the feeding, 
and, properly applied, are often of substantial benefit. 
They should be regarded, however, as a supplemental 
aid rather than as complete fertilizers, but they are 
very efficient along certain lines when used with a 
proper understanding of the purpose for use and the 
effect upon the plants. The nature of the soil, too, in 
which the plants are growing, is an important factor 
in determining what can be used to best advantage 



FEEDING 49 

and with safety. Growers have observed the benefits 
to be derived from them wlien used with discretion, 
their potency being in proportion to the needs of 
the plants for the special elements they supply. Of 
these, two of the most material are nitrogen and 
potash. 

If the grower be dealing with soil of a light, 
sandy nature it will probably stand substantial addi- 
tians of both nitrogen and potash when the plants 
have advanced to the stage of bud formation. On the 
other hand, if the soil be somewhat tenacious or of 
clayey character, potash is still likely to be present 
in sufficient quantity for the plant's needs, and to add 
more would be an error, but an addition of a nitroge- 
nous substance might prove most beneficial. Sulphate 
of ammonia is a good source of supply when the need of 
the plants is for additional nitrogen, as the ordinary 
commercial product generally contains twenty per cent 
of nitrogen, and, being readily soluble in water, it can 
be both effectively and economically supplied, but 
always in solution to avoid waste, risk of injury, and 
to give immediate benefit. One pound of sulphate of 
ammonia dissolved in a fifty-gallon barrel of water is 
perfectly safe in the hands of anyone, assuming, of 
course, that the condition of the plants justifies the 
application. ISTitrate of soda is also used by reason of 
its large content of nitrogen in the most available form 
for the immediate use of the plant. It may be ap- 
plied in like manner and in similar quantity. It has 
also a beneficial effect in other ways and its applica- 
tion sometimes shows speedy results. For example, 
the growth may be healthy, yet the leaves may lack 
tone of color, being of a light green, or lacking sub- 
stance. When such a condition is manifest an ap- 
plication of nitrate of soda will generally be correct 



50 THE CHKYSANTHEMUM 

and the result is shown in thickened leaves of a 
darker hue. 

Nitrate of potash is in favor with some growers, 
who prefer it to the soda. Its cost is double that of 
the soda, while its action and effect are practically the 
same. Lime and iron are essential elements in soil 
fertility. Some soils contain them in abundance, 
while in others they are markedly deficient, and in such 
the deficiency can be advantageously rectified. Lime 
acts in a dual capacity. In the soil it enters into 
formation of chemical compounds and tends to make 
soluble and available for use fertilizing elements that 
would, in the absence of lime, remain insoluble. Also 
when taken up in solution it enters into and materially 
strengthens the tissues of the plant, giving more 
rigidity to the stem. A weakness of stem in certain 
varieties often denotes deficiency of lime and the evil 
can be corrected by applying it. This is best done by 
sprinkling air-slacked lime over the surface soil two 
or three times during the growing season previous to 
watering. Additional iron, if needed, can be readily 
applied by sulphate of iron, which is soluble in water, 
and a quarter of a pound will suffice for fifty gallons 
of water. It may be added to the solutions of sulphate 
of ammonia or nitrate of soda and used in conjunction 
with them. 

When these chemical fertilizers are needed they 
should be used in alternation with liquid animal 
manures, and similarly with each other. They should 
also be applied when the soil about the plants is in 
moderately moist condition, a rule, in fact, applicable 
to all fertilizers, never to water with them when the 
soil is so dry that the plants are in immediate need 
of water, or serious disaster may be the result. A 
word of caution in regard to these fertilizers is to 



FEEDING 51 

discontinue them, especially the nitrate of soda, when 
the bud is about the size of a marble, or the flowers 
will lack substance and keeping qualities, will damp 
easily, and shed their petals when handled. Once a 
week for either of these potent agents should be the 
limit, and the quantity stated should never be ex- 
ceeded. The solution is a colorless liquid, and, if of 
double strength, would appear the same; therefore, one 
must be sure of weight and measure, and adhere to 
them, except they may be proportionately diminished 
should a weaker application be desirable. 

As a top dressing, concentrated manures may also 
be used, should conditions show the need; and the 
need that would suggest such feeding would be that 
of additional phosphoric acid, since the other essential 
elements of healthy growth can be more thoroughly 
and more speedily supplied in the manner indicated, 
with sulphates and nitrates. To be of any benefit, 
especially in an advanced stage of the plant^s growth, 
phosphoric acid should be applied in some phosphate 
of quick solubility. Bone in various forms is the 
staple source of phosphatic food, but this is only avail- 
able as the bone decays, and this, naturally, is a slow 
process. It follows tiien, that any application of fer- 
tilizers of which bone is a large constituent should 
have the bane reduced to the finest particles, so as to 
cause rapid decay and the ready solution of its 
elements in contact with the moist soil. Failing this, 
not only would there be waste, but an undesirable con- 
dition in the presence of considerable proportions of 
rich food as a residue in the soil, not needed by the 
plants as the flowers attained maturity. Some of the 
mineral superphosphates may be used in like manner 
by observing the same conditions. 

There are also prepared plant foods of a rich and 



63 THE CllKYSANTHEMUM 

highly concentrated character on the market and used 
by some to vary the feeding, which can be done in 
perfect safety by the expert grower who understands 
these rich foods and their effects, but the amateur 
should proceed cautiously with them. Overfeeding 
is, of course, possible. It has been overdone when the 
growth becomes short jointed and the leaves crowd 
upon one another with little or no intervening space. 
The remedy in that case suggests itself. A safer in- 
dication is furnished by the plants themselves before 
they reach such an undesirable condition. If they be 
in the best of health, with luxuriant foliage, and the 
leaves be brittle, breaking quite easily when lightly 
handled, then the feeding should be diminished, as 
they are fed "to the limit.'^ While continuous feeding 
has been advised, it is well now and then to let the 
plants have a drink of pure water, for this helps to 
clarify and sweeten tlie soil. 

Last but not least, the varieties must be studied 
in regard to their needs. Some will take double the 
quantity of feeding, and with others it may be neces- 
sary to cease feeding at an early stage of bud develop- 
ment, those having pink flowers being the most 
affected by a too prolonged rich diet. A general 
rule for all is to cease feeding as the petals of the 
flowers show color and commence to unfold. The 
object of feeding should be clearly apparent from 
what has been said in this chapter. JN'atural or 
animal manures are given first choice because they 
contain, in varying quantities, all the main essential 
elements of plant substance, namely, nitrogen, potash 
and phosphoric acid, therefore they constitute com- 
plete plant foods. An inability to obtain these, how- 
ever, need not debar one from growing fine flowers, 
as with an ordinary soil and a careful system of feed- 



FEEDING 53 

ing with the chemical and concentrated manures here 
recommended for supplemental use only, good results 
may be obtained. Such a system of feeding, however, 
to be entirely successful, involves the possession of a 
fair knowledge of chemistry, and of the governing 
principles of plant growth. 



CHAPTER VIII 

Care of the Buds 

^^len feeding ceases and the fast swelling bud 
ultimately begins to unfold, showing color in the outer 
petals, the goal of an entire season's effort is in. sight, 
but there must not yet be any relaxation of attention. 
Even at this stage the brightest prospects may be sadly 
marred unless vigilance be sustained to the end in 
attending to and doing the little things upon which 
success depends. Above all, the plants must be kept 
clean. AVhatever may have attacked the foliage during 
the growing season, scrupulous guard must be kept over 
the buds. They should be forbidden ground for insect 
depredations. Caterpillars, grasshoppers, green fly, black 
fly, red spider and thrips are a mighty host, the buds 
their legitimate prey, therefore the utmost vigilance 
must be observed. Means and methods of fighting the 
pests will be found in the special chapter devoted 
thereto. Water in abundance has been the rule over- 
head and at the roots, but a time is come when greatly 
reduced supplies will suffice. 

With the advent of cooler, shorter days, the plants 
will not dry out nearly so fast at the root, and the 
aim should be to keep them only moderately moist 
during the finishing of the flowers. Spraying the 
foliage on bright days is maintained as long as pos- 
sible as an antidote to insect pests, but now is the 
time when it must cease. The swelling buds are 
depressed in the center so that they would retain 
water and soon rot if carelessly sprayed overhead. The 



CARE OF THE BUDS 55 

floor of the house may, however, be sprayed if the 
conditions of weather make it necessary, but all super- 
fluous moisture should be dried up by night, when a 
dry, buoyant atmosphere must be maintained. Tem- 
perature is something we cannot control to the extent 
desirable for the perfect maturing of the blooms; but 
when the conditions permit of control, a temperature at 
night of from forty-five to fifty degrees should be the 
aim, as crown buds require a few degrees more heat than 
is necessary for Chrysanthemums ordinarily grown. 

Changeable autumn weather and warm, humid 
nights, which often prevail, seriously concern the 
grower, and adverse conditions must, as far as possible, 
be met and counteracted. If the outside temperature 
be low, matters are easy, as an equable inside tempera- 
ture is easily maintained by fire heat. This should be 
accompanied with a little air at the top of the house, 
opening the ventilators about two inches to allow the 
escape of superfluous moisture which otherwise would 
condense upon the cool flowers and cause "damping.^' 
When the outside temperature is in excess of that 
desired there must be free ventilation, and on foggy or 
humid nights, it may often be wise to have a little 
fire heat to expel some of the atmospheric humidity, 
even though temperature does not show any necessity 
for it. The flowers develop surprisingly fast when 
ideal conditions prevail, such as cool, dry days and pro- 
portionately cooler nights. Excessive warmth hastens 
expansion, but at the expense of substance and keeping 
qualities, so that should the flowers, by any mischance, 
appear to be a little too late for the date it is desired 
to exhibit them, it is better to forego the intention 
than to try to force them with additional fire heat, 
which can only end in weakened stems and soft flowers. 

Damping of the flowers before they attain 



56 TIIK CHRYSANTHEMUM 

maturity is often a serious trouble to the grower for 
exhibition. The term is misleading to the uninitiated, 
who would naturally suppose it has its origin in an 
excess of moisture, whereas excessive heat is the most 
potent factor in the trouble. A hot day in October 
may prove particularly disastrous to scores of promis- 
ing flowers. This evil is apparently engendered by 
the conditions under which the blooms have been 
brought to great size ; is, in fact, more or less incidental 
to high feeding, and affects some varieties to marked 
degree, while others, under exactly the same conditions 
and treatment, show no injury. It is called damping 
because the petals become spotted and the spots spread 
into a small area of decomposition or rotting of the 
tissues. As it only affects the highly fed flowers, it is 
now supposed that the heat acts upon the moisture in 
the flower, causing some chemical changes which de- 
stroy the tissues. This would appear to be a true 
solution of the difficulty, as flowers thus affected in 
the early stages of development have, when an immedi- 
ate change to favorable conditions supervened, finished 
expanding without further injury and have been used 
for exhibition after the petals injured in the first 
opening were extracted. A check may be placed upon 
the evil by slightly shading the flowers with a thin 
coat of lime wash upon the glass. 

Even if there be no evidence of damping, a slight 
shade is beneficial in modifying the bright sun rays 
with an accompanying reduction of temperature, when 
unusual warmth and bright sunshine prevail late in 
October and even in November. A batch of Golden 
Wedding of several hundred fine flowers was entirely 
ruined by one exceptionally warm, humid day as late 
as November 10. Subsequent practice has proved that 
the slight shade recommended is an admirable pre- 



CARE OF THE BUDS 57 

ventive. Occasionally clamping may take a more pro- 
nounced form and the entire flower rot in its early 
stages, from the center, so as to be absolutely worth- 
less. This is from excessive feeding, and Especially 
denotes too much of chemical fertilizers, for which the 
remedy suggests itself to be remembered the follow- 
ing year. 

Finally, as the flowers attain maturity, the season's 
record should be completed with a few timely notes 
of the most important operations, as a ready reference 
for the future, and a safeguard against mistakes 
through lapse of memory, especially in regard to the 
dates when the buds were taken. If these be recorded 
and they prove to have been too early or too late, the 
mistake can be rectified the following year. 

Exhibition Chrj^santhemums are entirely a prod- 
uct of individual effort. They are a development of 
latent possibilities, inherent in the plant, but unat- 
tainable if the plant be left to its own natural growth. 
The grower's success, therefore, along this special line 
of culture, is just in proportion to the knowledge he 
has at command and the S3^stematic application of the 
same toward the purpose in view. 



CHAPTER IX 

Exliihiting and Judging 

There are more floral exhibitions held in Chrysan 
themuni time than at any other period of the year, 
and at all of them the Chrysanthemum is the leading 
feature. Advocacy of the flower's adaptability for this 
purpose is needless, while the number and popularity 
of these exhibitions furnish ample justification for the 
continuance of those means and methods wdiereby the 
flower has been brought into such prominence. 

It is undeniable that the big blooms have been 
the leading factor in arousing and sustaining public 
interest, hence the prominence that has been given to 
this phase of Chrysanthemum culture in these pages. 
Moreover, it is safe to prophesy that the future will 
not witness any marked changes in this respect, as one 
can hardly imagine such a revulsion of public feeling, 
or sentiment, sufficient to convince the general public 
that flowers one-half the size are just as pretty and 
more artistic. The stamp of popular approval of the 
big bloom was set in Europe before Chrysanthemum 
exhibitions were thought of in America, so "history 
repeats itself,'' but though we followed where others 
led, we have substantially progressed, and have given 
to our exhibitions an American character in a more 
natural and an infinitely more pleasing method of dis- 
pla}^, by setting up the flowers in large vases with long 
stems and ample foliage to enhance the beauty of the 
bloom. In consequence of this, the flowers that we 
display at exhibitions demonstrate the fitness and 



EXHIBITING AND JUDGING 59 

beauty of the same flowers to adorn the home, in 
consonance with the best methods of floral decoration. 
Proof of this is seen each season, as the commercial 
product that most approaches exhibition standard of 
merit brings the highest returns, financially, to the 
grower. 

The holding of Chrysanthemum exhibitions, too, 
has improved the general culture of the flower at the 
hands of those who, while not participating in the com- 
petitions, have witnessed the possibilities of good 
culture when attending the shows. 

PREPARING AND PACKING EXHIBITION FLOWERS 

As the time of the exhibition approaches, close 
watch must be kept upon the flowers. It may be that 
some of those it is desired to exhibit have attained 
to full perfection a week or more in advance of the 
date, and to leave them longer on the plant would risk 
deterioration. These should be cut at once, placed in 
water in suitable receptacles and stood in a cool, dry 
room or cellar from which the light may be partially 
excluded. However, the place should not be darkened 
entirely, or the foliage will turn yellow. If the water be 
changed every two or three days and a small portion 
of the stem cut away, flowers may be kept a week or 
ten days and yet be fresh and fit for exhibition. When 
the flowers are not cut till required it should be a day 
in advance, so that they may be stood in water for at 
least twenty-four hours previous to packing them. The 
need of this is obvious, as the plants have been kept 
on the dry side during the maturing of the blooms, 
but flower, foliage and stem need to be well supplied 
with moisture preparatory to the exhibition ordeal to 
ensure their retaining freshness. Any neglect in this 
respect may result in a speedy collapse after the flowers 



60 THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 

are staged in the dry atmosphere of the exhibi- 
tion hall. 

Occasionally a variety will occur having hard, 
woody stems that are slow of absorption and the foliage 
shows a disposition to wilt. This can be remedied 
by splitting np the stem at the base for three or four 
inches, which greatly facilitates the absorption of water. 

PACKING THE BLOOMS 

Great care must be exercised in packing the blooms 
for transportation to the place of exhibition, to avoid 
bruising or other injury. ^lany an otherwise good 
exhibit has failed to attain the deserved award solely 
by reason of blemishes that" might have been prevented. 
After a year of endeavor in production the final effort 
should be to place the flowers on exhibition clean and 
spotless. In a close competition the first award may 
depend entirely upon freshness and condition. It is 
poor satisfaction to see a competitor win because of 
errors of our own commission. 

Substantial wooden boxes of not less than half-inch 
lumber should be secured. For long stemmed flowers 
a convenient box is one six feet long, twenty inches 
wide inside, and with a clear inside depth of at least 
ten inches. In such a box from eighteen to twenty- 
four flowers, each having four feet of stem, can be 
safely packed. The box should be lined with several 
thicknesses of paper, that nearest to the flowers being 
of a soft character. Commencing at the end, support 
must be provided for the first row of flowers. A simple 
but effective method is to make a roll, or pillow, of 
excelsior (about four inches thick) as long as the width 
of the box and wrapped with tissue paper, placing it 
in the box six inches from the end. This gives neces- 
sary support to the neck of the flower and prevents it 
from crushing itself out of shape as would happen if 



EXIIIBITIXG AND JUDGIXG 61 

laid in the box in the ordinary manner of packing. 
Each flower should have a sheet of tissue paper tied 
at the neck, then drawn upward and tied again, so 
as to enclose it in a complete bag of paper. Flowers 
of a reflexed type with drooping petals may have their 
petals drawn upward slightly without injury, as a slight 
shake when unpacking will put them right again. A 
box of the width stated will take three or four flowers 
laid side by side upon the supporting pillow. Two 
similar rows may be laid in the box following on from 
the first, with smaller supporting pillows, or it may 
be the stems and foliage of the first row furnish suf- 
ficient support; the judgment of the packer must de- 
termine this. Starting again frOm the other end of 
the box, that half may be similarly packed. "When 
completed, a cleat or strip of wood wrapped with paper 
may be nailed across the box inside to hold the stems 
down and retain them in position. The flowers must 
be packed sufficiently tight to keep them in position 
without unduly pressing one another, any open space 
being filled with wads of tissue paper. Above all 
things, the flowers must be kept absolutely dry. If 
the distance for transportation be long, it will be de- 
sirable to sprinkle the foliage lightly, or, better still, 
to spread a moistened newspaper over the stems in the 
center of the box; then cover the flowers with tissue 
paper before closing the box. Take due care that in 
no place does the lid of the box come in contact with 
the flowers. 

Some exhibitors, in place of using the pillow for 
support, nail cleats across the box and securely tie the 
stems thereto. It takes longer to pack in this way, but 
it gives added security and the method is worthy of 
adoption if the flowers have to be transported a great 
distance and are left entirely to the tender mercies of 




Fig. 16 EXHIBITION CHRYSANTHEMUMS PROPERLY 

PACKED FOR SHIPMENT 



EXHIBITING AXD JUDGING 63 

the express companies. Flowers to be shown in short 
stemmed classes may be safely and more closely packed 
by tying in this way. Fig. 16 shows a box of flowers 
so packed, which, after transportation for a thousand 
miles, came out so perfect that they secured ninety- 
five out of a possible one hundred points. Another aid 
to maintaining freshness is to enclose the ends of the 
stems in rubber capped glass receptacles containing 
water and made expressly for this purpose. The 
flowers in the box illustrated in Fig. 16 had the ends 
of their stems wrapped around with wet moss secured 
with paper tied around. 

A method of packing occasionally seen at the 
eastern exhibitions is with flowers standing erect in 
rows, each row tied to a cleat below the flowers and at 
the base, with the ends of the stems resting in a tray 
at the bottom of the box, filled with wet moss, kept in 
position b}^ a covering of small meshed wire netting. 
This is a cumbersome method, requiring a very deep 
box for long stemmed flowers, and with no manifest 
advantages over the usual way of packing as here 
described. 

STAGING THE EXHIBITS 

The conditions of competition govern the staging. 
It rests with the exhibitor entirely to comply with the 
conditions as stated, and adhere to them to the letter. 
The careful exhibitor who is going to stage a vase of 
six, twelve or fifty flovv^ers, takes along a few additional 
flowers to provide for accidents. The careless exhibitor 
often stages the extra flowers brought along, and in the 
rush and excitement of preparation forgets to remove 
them. "Don't forget" is the only way to avoid the 
chagrin of seeing the word "Disqualified" attached to 
the entry card of what might have been a winning 
exhibit but for failure to comply with the condition 



t)4 THE CllUYSAXTlIEMUM 

as to exact number — a condition that is considered 
absolute at all exhibitions. 

Individual skill, artistic perception, ability to dis- 
play' to the best advantage the component parts of the 
exhibit, are all factors that count as a whole in effect 
created, even though the judges analytically scrutinize 
tlie units. While the flower is the chief thing, stem 
and foliage are very essential attributes, therefore the 
exhibitor should always endeavor to make them play 
their part to the fullest extent when setting up a 
vase of flowers. A superb prize winning vase of one 
hundred Timothy Eaton is shown in Fig. 17. 

In classes that call for a collection of twelve, 
twenty-four or more distinct varieties, one bloom of 
each, it is customary, and in fact, most desirable, to stage 
the flowers singly, one in a vase, or suitable receptacle. 
These are shown with short stems of from twelve to 
sixteen inches in length. If the stage or table for such 
classes can be stepped, as seen in Fig. 18, showing a 
prize winning collection of twelve, it adds greatly to the 
effectiveness of the display and also permits of easier 
and closer inspection. The staging of a collection of 
blooms in variety calls for careful discrimination in 
color association, alternating dark and light colors, 
when possible. Should there be variation in size, no 
matter if it be sliglit, keep the small flowers for the 
front row. In arranging, start at the left hand corner 
of the back row and complete this row with the largest 
flowers, following on in the same order down to the 
front row. If rightly arranged the difference in size 
is scarcely apparent when the collection is viewed as 
a whole. 

It would add greatly to the attractiveness of our 
Chrysanthemum exhibitions if this method of exhibit- 
ing the flowers were more extensively adopted. It 



EXHIBITING AND JUDGING 



65 



affords a welcome relief from the long stemmed flowers 
in vases; is, in fact, a most satisfactory compromise 
between that purely American method and the Euro- 
pean custom of staging the flowers on boards without 
a vestige of foliage or visible stem. Where such classes 




Fig. 17 — PRIZE VASE OF ONE HUNDRED TIMOTHY EATON 



are staged the visiting public always congregates about 
them, doubtless because of the varied character of the 
exhibits, and the facility with which they can be 
inspected. Another feature to recommend such ex- 
hibits is, that the flowers retain their freshness and 
beauty for a prolonged period. 



EXHIBITING AND JUDGING OT 

JUDGING 

Societies or organizations holding exhibitions must 
employ competent judges in order to secure the good 
will and the confidence of the growers, upon wliomthey 
rely to make the show. Men of practical alulity and 
known integrity must be chosen, giving preference, if 
available, to men who have already distinguished 
themselves in the culture of the flower they are called 
upon to judge. But, beside this essential knowledge, 
they should be possessed of good judgment and sound 
common sense, combined with a capacity to critically 
consider and justly appraise true merit. 

An endeavor to systematize judging, to make it a 
matter of mathematical computation, has resulted in 
the arranging of a scale of points apportioned to cover 
all the essential attributes of plant and flower. This, 
however, is only a means to an end and is cumbersome 
at the best. It is chiefly used when some new variety 
appears and we scale it to see the result, but even then 
a practical man can tell by intuition just about where 
the newcomer stands in point of merit. An incom- 
petent man could not take the scale of points, and, by 
its use, get a correct appraisal of merit. A competent 
man possesses that faculty which enables him to see 
merit at a glance. The scale is but an analysis of 
essentials with points for values, and the chief purpose 
it serves is as a vehicle for expressing conclusions 
arrived at. It is useful in a limited sphere as applied 
to new kinds, but judging competitive exhibits of cut 
blooms is a different matter entirely, and, moreover, 
if it had to be done by scale of points, would hardly 
be completed within the period of the show. 

The scales of points as revised and adopted by the 
Chrysanthemum Society of America at its meeting in 
Boston, November, 1904, are as follows: 



68 ' THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 

Scale A. — Scale of points for bush plants and 
standards, single specimens or any number up to six, 
in an exhibition where the class under consideration 
does not form the chief feature in the exhibition hall. 

Equality of size and form of plant ... 40 

Excellence of bloom 35 

Foliage 25 



100 



Scale B. — Scale of points for bush plants in ex- 
hibits of more than six, or for any number of specimen 
plants, in an exhibition where the class under consid- 
eration forms the cliief feature in the exhibition hall. 

Excellence of bloom 40 

Equality of size and form of plants. . 35 
Foliage 25 



100 



Scale C. — Scale of points for plants grown to 
single stem and one bloom. 

Excellence of bloom 40 

Compact and sturdy growth 35 

Foliage 25 

100 



Scale D. — Scale of points on specimen blooms for 
commercial purposes. 



EXHIBITING AND JUDGING 69 

Color 20 

Form 15 

Fullness 10 

Stem 15 

Foliage 15 

Substance 15 

Size 10 



100 



Scale E. — Scale of points on specimen blooms for 
exhibition purposes. 

Color 10 

Form 15 

Fullness 15 

Stem 10 

Foliage 10 

Depth 15 

Size 25 



100 



CHAPTER X 

Specimen Plants 

The Chrj'Santhemum, when allowed to grow 
naturally, makes a much-branched bush that will 
produce flowers in gTeat number. The culture described 
in previous chapters has been for the production of 
large individual flowers only, and from the cutting stage 
to that of bud formation growth has been confined to 
one shoot; all others, as they appeared, have been 
removed. 

BUSH PLANTS 

Availing ourselves of the plant's natural disposition 
to branch, we can pursue its culture along entirely 
opposite lines, and, by developing, with timely assist- 
ance, its branching proclivities, grow plants that 
will attain a diameter of from -three feet to five 
feet, yet not exceed three feet in bight, producing 
from 200 to 500 flowers on each plant. These 
are called specimen bush plants, and are obtained 
by a systematic pinching of the growing shoots, thus 
encouraging the growth of many more shoots than 
would otherwise appear were the plants left to grow 
entirely their own way. The accepted form of bush 
plants for exhibition is one trained in a semi-spherical 
shape, with its flowers regularly disposed all over by 
training and tying, and, if well done, it presents an even 
mass of flowers which individually nearly touch each 
other. It is usual for the plant to show about one inch 
of clear stem above the soil of the pot in which it is 
grown. The foundation for such a plant is laid by 



SPECIMEN PLANTS 71 

pinching the growing point of a young plant when only 
about four inches in hight. 

STANDARD PLANTS 

Standard plants differ only in that the branched 
head is borne at a hight according to desire of from 
three feet to six feet upon a single supporting stem, and 
the plant must first be grown to the desired hight before 
the point is pinched out. There are great possibilities 
in Chrysanthemum culture along these lines. The 
Japanese, particularly, excel in growing plants, which 
they, with marvelous patience and skill, train into 
many shapes and grow of enormous size. Although 
those who grow these specimens in America are 
few in number compared with the many who grow 
Chrysanthemums for cutting, the plants they produce 
and place on exhibition could hardly be surpassed. It 
is not uncommon to hear these specimens decried as 
ugly, stiff and formal, but it is more than probable those 
who deny them the striking beauty they possess never 
grew a specimen in their life, and would fail in the 
attempt. Specimen plants appear each year at most 
of our large Chrysanthemum exhibitions, but the best 
justification of them is furnished by the annual exhi- 
bition of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society in 
Boston, where, for many years, specimen bush plants 
have been the leading feature, and continue so to be. 
A superb specimen bush plant, with standards in the 
rear, is seen in Fig. 19. 

To grow good specimen plants is to tax to the 
fullest extent the individual skill of the grower, who 
must be an enthusiast and manifest a keen interest in 
his plants all the time. It takes nearly a year to grow 
one of these great specimens because an early start 
myst be made to lay the foundation of abundant 



SPECIMEN PLANTS 73 

branch growth before that period is reached when 
Nature's course can no longer be arrested, for the 
shoots must then be permitted to grow on to the stage 
of bud formation. 

Given the desire to grow them and the intention 
to apply the best efforts toward the purpose in view, 
there is no special difficulty to overcome, merely the 
observance and proper performance of man}^ small but 
essential details, as here enumerated by one of the best 
growers of these plants.* 

"The time to commence propagating for specimen 
plants is the latter part of December or early in Jan- 
uary, choosing for preference cuttings from stock plants 
that have not been forced by heavy feeding the previous 
year. When the cuttings have made roots about half 
an inch in length, they should be potted into two-inch 
pots, as if left to make any growth in the propagating 
bed, they become hardened and drawn and will never 
make healthy specimens. From the time the cuttings 
are rooted they should never be allowed to suffer for 
want of water, air or space. The foundation of success 
is laid upon a close attention to small details from 
the start. 

"For the first potting use loam, with the addition 
of some leaf mold and sufficient sand to make the com- 
post open and porous. Place the plants as near the 
glass as possible, in a cool house with a temperature of 
about fifty-five degrees. When well rooted in these pots 
they are shifted to larger ones as required, first into 
four-inch, then into six-inch, and by the month of 
May they should be large enough to require seven or 
eight-inch pots. The condition called well-rooted may 
be explained for the benefit of the amateur who might 
err in leaving the plants too long in the small sized pots. 



"D. F. Roy of Maiden, Mass. 



74: THE CHKYSANTHEMUM 

As soon as the roots have run freely through the soil 
given at the last repotting, which can be easily ascer- 
tained by turning a plant out of its pot, the plants are 
ready for another shift. They should never remain 
until they become pot-bound or the resultant check to 
growth consequent upon letting them get into this state 
can never be fully remedied. 

*'At each potting a stronger soil should be given, 
using a mixture of fibrous loam, well decayed manure 
and a sprinkling of bone meal. The dark flowered 
varieties are very apt to burn, and this trouble may, in 
.part, be corrected by the use of some charcoal in the 
soil, or larger pieces may be used with the drainage 
material at the bottom of the pot. 

"The plants should receive their final potting, which 
may be into ten-inch or twelve-inch pots, according to 
size and vigor, sometime during the early part of the 
month of June. For this final shift a good, rich com- 
post should be made of a rough or open character, 
using plenty of half-decayed sod. The potting must 
be well and firmly done and the compost such that, 
after consolidation, it will still allow of the free passage 
of water. Should the only available soil be of a heavy 
or adhesive nature mix some sharp sand with it as, 
above all things, porosity must be maintained. The 
plants have to remain in these pots for six months, 
during which large quantities of water must be given, 
therefore it is most important to guard against danger 
of stagnation, as the roots of a water-logged plant soon 
perish, and it is hardly possible to nurse it back to 
former health and vigor. 

"A careful, systematic, properly-timed course of 
pinching the shoots, generally called 'stopping,' must 
also be pursued from early infancy, but never pinch 
and pot at the same time, as this would result in 



SPECIMEN PLANTS 75 

subjecting the plants to a double clieck at root 
and branch simultaneously. The essential ^stopping' 
can either be performed a week or so in advance of 
repotting or deferred until a week or ten days after, 
when the roots have begun to run into the new soil. 
According to condition, the grower must judge for him- 
self which operation should be performed first. 

^'When the plants are about four inches high, pinch 
out the tips, which induces several growths to start ; they, 
in turn, when they have made a growth of from three to 
four leaves, are again pinched, and this should be con- 
tinued until the first of August. '^Stopping' of the 
late flowering varieties should be discontinued ten days 
earlier. No stimulant should be given as long as the 
plants are making a healthy growth, but just as soon 
as the foliage shows, by its color, that more food is 
necessary, begin by using cow, sheep and horse manure 
in liquid form, interchanging each week with soot and 
some standard concentrated fertilizer. The first ap- 
plication should be very weak, but as the plants become 
accustomed to the food give it in stronger doses. Of 
course each grower must use his own judgment as to 
the requirements of his plants. Some varieties that are 
of a weak growth will not stand strong feeding, while 
those of a healthy growth can scarcely be overfed. If 
at any time the growth of the plants seems to be 
checked, or lack tone of color, a light dose of nitrate 
of soda will assist them, using it at the rate of twelve 
ounces to fifty gallons of water. 

"When grown inside, the plants should receive all 
the air possil)]e, leaving a good space between them so 
as to allow a free circulation of air and room for syring- 
ing. AVhen the nights become cool, heat may be given, 
allowing some ventilation so that the air may not 
become heavy with humidity, for Chrysanthemums 



76 THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 

require a lively, bracing atmosphere. They may be 
grown in the open from June to August if there be 




Fig. 20 — SPECIMEN BUSH PLANT OF GARZA, CARRYING 

800 BLOOMS AND MEASURING SIX FEET IN DIAMETER 

GROWN BY DAVID F. ROY, MALDEN, MASS. 

facilities for their protection during heavy wind and 
rain storms. The plants should stand in full sunlight 




m 

"A 

g 

o 

Pi 

02 

H 
O 






78 



THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 




Fig. 22 — A FIRST PRIZE BUSH PLANT 



away from trees and buildings, otherwise the treat- 
ment is the same as when grown under glass. When 
the shoots have made a growth too heavy for self- 



SPECIMEN PLANTS 79 

support, a few stakes should be put in. Just to keep 
them from becoming twisted and broken by the wind. 

"During September they will begin to show buds, 
each shoot producing several at the terminal point. 
Chinese and Japanese varieties make better specimens 
by disbudding to one bud on each shoot. The Anemone 
and Pompon varieties are much prettier if all the buds 
are left to blossom as seen in Fig. 20. As soon as the 
buds begin to show color it is time to do the staking 
and training, which may be in any form to suit one's 
fancy. The usual way, however, is in the form of a 
half globe. Some growers use circular wire frames 
made to suit special forms, but they give the plants 
a much stiffer appearance. If carefully tied out to 
willow stakes the disposition of shoot and flower is 
more under control. Whatever method be used, when 
finished, the flowers should nearly touch each other as 
seen in Figs. 21 and 22. Those who contemplate ex- 
hibiting will find the plant tied to stakes more conven- 
ient to handle for transportation, as the shoots can be 
lightly drawn together without injury in packing. 
The plant tied to a wire frame is a rigid fixture. 

"Insect enemies have to be fought all the time, chief 
among them being green and black fly, red spider, 
grasshoppers and cutworms; also guard against mildew 
and rust. Given the necessary constant attention, by 
doing the work at tlie pro]:»er time, no plant responds 
more readily to the care bestowed upon it than does the 
Chrysanthemum. 

"To grow standard Chrysanthemums, the plant 
should be trained to one stem by pinching out all side 
and bottom shoots. As it makes growth, tie to a strong 
stake so that the stem may be straight and not be broken 
by the wind. Leave the stake long enough so that the 
framework of wire may be fastened thereto, as this 



80 THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 

method of training is the best to use for standards. 
They may be grown to any hight from three to six 
feet. At whatever hight you wish the lower branches 
to break, there pinch out the leader. Several shoots 
will then start which should be pinched the same as for 
bush plants. With the exception of growing to a single 
stem, the general care for standard Chr3'Santhemums is 
the same as for the specimen bush plants. 

*^Some of the best varieties grown for exhibition 
flowers are not adapted to specimen plant culture, while 
old varieties that have been superseded or discarded 
through lack of size make admirable plants, in fact, 
their adaptability to this culture has been the chief 
reason for their remaining in cultivation." 

A suitable and comprehensive selection of varieties 
is given in another chapter. Special mention might be 
made of the Anemone and Pompon varieties as there 
recommended. As specimen plants they have a dis- 
tinctive, graceful beauty, as seen in Fig. 20. 



CHAPTEE XI 
Chrysanthemum Plants in Six-Inch Pots 

The adaptability of the Chrj^santhemum to various 
methods of culture greatly widens its field of usefulness 
so that it is practically brought within the means of all. 
An easy and delightful way of growing good flowers 
upon small plants and in small pots is practiced by 
some growers, a system that is deserving of wide 
popularity. Late struck cuttings are gTown on into 
plants that require a pot only six inches in diameter, 
and the plants often do not exceed two feet in hight, 
yet produce blooms of almost exhibition merit. Such 
plants are admirable for use in decorating the home 
and are much more lasting than cut flowers. It is 
really surprising that one only occasionally meets with 
the Chrysanthemum well grown in this, way, and that 
usually in some good private garden. Such plants 
ought to be a staple market article in season and hardly 
less numerous than cut flowers. They certainly should 
appeal to those who grow for their own pleasure, and 
more especially to those who cannot afford to devote 
a whole house to Chrysanthemums planted out on 
benches. 

The following detailed description of the method 
pursued is from the pen of an excellent grower,* 
who has for many years been most successful with 
Chrysanthemums grown in every way; but particularly 
meritorious are those that he grows in six-inch pots, as 



"P. Duff, Orange, N. J. 



83 THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 

shown in Fig. 23, illustrating the varieties Merza and 
Wm. Duckham. 

"We usually put in the cuttings for six-inch single 
stems about June 1. This may seem late to some 
growers, but having paid careful attention to this class 
for several years, it has been found that the best results 
come from cuttings inserted about this time. Prefer- 
ence is given to cuttings for this purpose from plants 
that have been kept in cold frames all winter, as they 
are of a more sturdy growth than those in the green- 
house. The propagating bench is filled with clean, 
sharp sand, which, after being beaten down, is about 
three inches in depth. The cuttings are then inserted, 
given a thorough watering and a syringing morning 
• and evening on all bright days. 

"For shading the cuttings newspapers may be used, 
which should be removed every evening. Plenty of 
ventilation is given at all times to prevent damping off. 
When the cuttings are rooted they are potted quite 
firmly into clean three-inch pots and watered. They 
are placed on a bench in the greenhouse on finely sifted 
coal ashes and kept shaded from the sun for a week 
or so, after which they are allowed all the light and 
air possible. The compost used for potting the cut- 
tings consists of four parts of light loam to one part 
of old, well-rotted manure, and is put through a half- 
inch sieve. 

"The plants are syringed mornings and after- 
noons on all bright days. When the plants are well 
rooted in the three-inch pots they are shifted into six- 
inch pots, which are washed clean and well crocked or 
drained. The compost used for this potting consists 
of four parts of good fibrous loam and one part of well 
rotted cow manure, both chopped up finely. To every 
wheelbarrow of this is added a six-inch potful of fine 



PLANTS IK SIX-INCH POTS 



83 




Fig. 23 — CHRYSANTHEMUMS MERZA ( WHITE) AND 
WM. DUCKHAM (PINK) 

bone meal, also a six-inch potful of a high grade con- 
centrated fertilizer, and the whole is thoroughly mixed. 



84 THE CHRYSAXTHEMUM 

"This potting is done very firmly to induce a 
dwarf, sturdy growth. The plants are placed again on 
the greenhouse bench, watered and shaded for a few 
days from the sun. As the plants begin to grow they are 
staked to prevent their being bent over by the syringing, 
which is done twice a day, during bright weather, until 
the buds begin to show, when they are only syringed 
in the morning so that the house is dry by night. 
After the plants grow and the pots are filled with roots, 
feeding with weak liquid manure is begun. Enough 
is given to keep the foliage in good color until the bud 
sets, after which they are fed regularly twice a week. 
The plants are always watered with clear water previous 
to receiving the liquid manure. 

"Cow and sheep manure are used, also soot, steeped 
in a barrel in the usual way, but care must be taken 
not to give it too strong. These materials are changed 
every week. We usually give the plants a top dressing 
of soil, manure and a little high grade fertilizer when 
the feeding begins, the continual watering having 
washed out some of the soil. We continue feeding 
until the blooms are three-fourths open. 

"During the growing of the plants attention is 
paid to staking and keeping all side growths removed. 
We generally take the first bud that comes, which 
usually is about the latter part of August or the begin- 
ning of September, according to variety. To keep clear 
of green and black aphis during the growing period, we 
sprinkle the plants with tobacco dust once a week in 
the morning and syringe it off after a couple of hours. 
After the buds have set we fumigate with Aphis punk 
and place tobacco stems on the heating pipes under the 
benches. Eed spider is kept in check by a judicious 
use of the syringe. As the blossoms are opening we 
shade the greenhouse lightly with white lead and 



PLANTS IN SIX-INCH POTS 85 

kerosene. The temperature of the house at this time 
is fifty degrees at night to sixty degrees during the day/' 

Still smaller plants may be had if desired, by 
using only a three-inch or four-inch pot, yet in their 
season bearing flowers of proportionate size, these being 
propagated still later. In some gardens it is customary 
to grow a number of these miniature Chrysanthemums, 
they miglit be called, as they are found very serviceable 
to finish off groups or other arrangements of the larger 
ones. Even when the flower bud is formed it is possible 
to make a cutting of the shoot, and "when the same has 
put forth roots it can be kept growing, and from the 
bud at its tip will develop a flower of good size and 
quality. This, too, is a method that could be put to 
good use by the amateur having small facilities. To have 
these miniature plants at their best they should be 
propagated any time during the month of August, if 
possible, taking the cutting just prior to the formation 
of the crown bud. The cuttings should be made about 
four inches long and only have the lowest leaves 
removed, as the aim should be to preserve the foliage 
as much as possible, as little more will grow. If the 
cuttings be kept moist and shaded they will root in 
about two weeks, when they should be gradually inured 
to the light so as to keep them dwarf and sturdy. If 
properly treated they will, when in flower, be only from 
eight inches to twelve inches in hight. 

Varied uses might be suggested for these tiny plants, 
and especially so for table decoration. It is important 
to select varieties of strong growth for this treatment 
which will hold up their flowers well, but any of those 
in the list given for six-inch pots will do. Of course it 
is necessary to have plants from which suitable cuttings 
can be secured at this late date, but this can be easily 
accomplished. They may even be grown in the open 



86 THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 

ground, planting them out in spring. If planted out 
and grown up to three or four strong shoots from Avhich 
the side slioots are kept disbuded, these tips will make 
the very best of material to cut off and root in August. 
If one has a numl)er of plants under glass, some of which 
have grown too tall for the position they occupy, they 
may be beheaded, and every one converted into a minia- 
ture plant that will flower in due season. There is no 
uncertainty about this method and the results, given 
the suitable material and the right treatment; but 
to behead a Eose or Carnation at this stage and try 
to make a flowering plant of it, would only end in 
failure. This further illustrates the adaptability of the 
Chrysanthemum to wide and varied uses. 



CHAPTEE XII 

Commercial Culture* 

The Chrysanthemum is grown today in immense 
quantities for commercial cut flower purposes, though 
the average price to the wholesale grower grows less 
and less as time rolls on. The margin of profit today 
is microscopical and were it not for the fact that the 
bench space is made valuable by other crops, during the 
winter, it would seem that many growers would have 
to discontinue growing them entirely. This i*s not due 
to a decreased demand; the quantity of flowers that 
are grown and sold being, as before indicated, enor- 
mous; but it is due to the large quantity of absolute 
rubbish that is thrown on the market, and which, being 
hard to move at any price, helps to depress the sale of 
the choicer grades to a very considerable extent. 

The question has been asked what is a fair price 
for Chr3^santhemum flowers. A man growing stock 
of exhibition size and finish should get fifty dollars 
per hundred as a wholesale price. This will allow a 
margin to compensate for the flowers that will be 
spoiled by damping, bruising, destruction by insects 
and the hundred and one other mishaps that may befall 
them. Such stock will have to be planted on the 
benches in May, grown all summer and never be 
neglected for a moment. A fair grade of flowers can be 
profitably produced for twenty-five dollars per hundred 
by planting closer in the bench, setting out the plants 



♦By Charles H. Totty, Madison, N. J. 



88 THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 

in June and feeding only moderately. Where the 
profit is on those flowers that are wholesaled by the 
thousand, at from three cents upward, is a hard matter 
to figure out. 

PROPAGATION 

Assuming that the grower is desirous of producing 
a good grade of flowers, propagation should be pro- 
ceeded with during March and April to have plants in 
nice shape to set out on the benches during May or 
June. For late flowers, cuttings may be rooted as late 
as July, the idea being to keep these late flowering 
plants in a soft growing condition after the early and 
midseason kinds are setting buds. 

Just as soon as the cuttings are rooted they should 
be potted* in a nice light soil, free from manure of any 
description, the aim at this time being to produce a 
dwarf, stocky, healthy little plant in a good growing 
condition. Keep the young plants in a good, light, airy 
house with ample ventilation — the cold frame after 
April 1 being an ideal place to grow on the stock, 
providing a water supply is handy. 

PLANTING 

Planting should be proceeded with when the plants 
are in good condition, and the soil for filling the 
benches should be a good fibrous loam that has been 
stacked up the previous fall and composted with one- 
fourth its bulk of good cow manure. This soil will 
cut down in the spring in a nice, mellow condition, and 
as the heap is turned over a liberal sprinkle of fine 
bone should be mixed through it. The bench is then 
filled just level full, without firming, then when the 
plants are set out the whole bench can be pounded 
down uniformly and evenly. 




Q 
"A 

< 



O M 

o - 

w 






90 THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 

Some discrimination should be used in planting, 
setting out the early kinds in a bench by themselves so 
that when they are cut the soil can be cleaned out 
immediately and the bench space used at once for 
another crop. Dwarf kinds should be planted on the 
side benches where head room is restricted, and the taller 
kinds in the center benches where they will have room 
to stretch themselves without having to be pulled down 
from the glass. (Figs. 24 and 25.) 

The distance apart to set out the plants is 
governed considerably by the quality of stock it is 
desired to grow. For very best flowers of exhibition 
grade nine by six inches is as close as it is wise to 
attempt to grow plants, keeping them to single stem. 
Some growers plant at this distance and take up two 
stems, but it must be remembered that the more 
crowded the plants the poorer will be the grade of 
flowers produced. 

After planting, the chief work during the summer 
consists of keeping the stock tied up and free from 
insects. In from ten to twelve weeks after planting, 
the plants will be in need of feeding somewhat to keep 
them growing along, and a light mulch of well rotted 
manure will be found very beneficial, affording, as it 
does, nourishment for the plants and keeping the soil 
from drying out too rapidly. 

Feeding with liquid fertilizers may be practiced 
every week or so until the buds show color, after which 
time it n^ust cease, as the plants should then be in 
condition to finish the flowers in good shape, and feed- 
ing, if continued too long, makes the flowers soft 
and flabby and liable to decay. 

Buds may be taken on many of the early kinds by 
the first or second week in August; in fact, they must 
be taken for very early flowers, as a bud needs from 



92 THE CHRYSAXTHEMUM 

six to ten weeks to develop, and it is impossible to 
take buds on early flowering kinds in September and 
expect to cut flowers b}^ October 1. Second early and 
midseason kinds may be taken with safety by the end 
of August, and for late kinds, of course, the later the 
bud can be secured the later will be the crop. After 
the buds are swelling and before they show color it 
should be seen to that the plants are entirely free from 
insects, black and green fly particularly, as smoking 
cannot be practiced when the plants are in full flower, 
and a flower that is alive with aphis is unsalable in 
any market. 

The cutting and shipping of the flowers will be 
regulated more or less by the market demand, but it 
is a good policy to ship the flowers just as soon as they 
are fully developed rather than leave them on the 
plant till they are past their best. Care and time spent 
in packing is well spent, as it is an easy matter to 
destroy the labor of weeks by careless handling of 
the flowers. 

COMMERCIAL TYPES 

The type of flower best suited to commercial pur- 
poses is the Japanese incurved. This type gives size 
and the incurving petals are not easily bruised in 
shipping. Good examples of this type are Col. Ap- 
pleton, yellow, and Wm. Duckham, pink. The Japa- 
nese or reflexed types are great favorites with flower 
buyers, as a rule, but unless they are packed separately 
in tissue paper they are apt to become interlaced in 
the box and torn to pieces when being taken out. For 
this reason the Japanese are largely tabooed in the 
large wholesale centers, though the florist who grows 
and retails his own flowers will find it greatly to his 
advantage to handle some kinds that are not on sale 
at every street corner in the large cities. The flower 



COMMERCIAL CULTURE 93 

buyer loves a change and with the variety afforded by 
the Chrysanthemum there should be no lack of novelty. 

POT PLANTS 

Pot plants are not very largely grown any more, 
commercially, though there is no reason why they 
should not be made a profitable asset in a general 
florist's business. The style of plant most generally 
seen is rooted about April, kept pinched until June and 
then allowed to come up with from four to eight shoots 
in a seven-inch pot. There is no apparent reason why 
single stem, six-inch pot plants, should not be made 
commercially profitable, and, undoubtedly, if well 
grown and finished, they would create a market for 
themselves anywhere. 

Many plants are annually grown outside during 
the summer, lifted the first • week in September and 
potted. If the operation of lifting be carefully per- 
formed so that the roots are not injured too much, and 
the plants are shaded until they take hold of the new 
soil, it is surprising what nice stock can be produced 
in this manner. 

The Chrysanthemum stands today as a staple 
flower, commercially, in its season, and the pessimists 
who predicted a speedy decline of its popularity are 
living to see what was termed "a passing fad" perma- 
nently established as the flower of the people and the 
"Queen of Autumn.'^ 



CHAPTER XIII 

Raising from Seed and Hyhridizing* 

SEED RAISING 

In the early days of Chrysanthemum development 
in the United States results were forthcoming which 
gave us many splendid varieties introduced by American 
growers. Of late years, seedling Chryanthemum pro- 
duction in our country has not brought forth anything 
like the number of varieties annually produced prior 
to 1896 and 1897. The falling off in the number of 
American novelties may be attributed to several causes; 
one of these is the rejection of nearly all the varieties 
failing to meet the trade requirements laid down by the 
wholesale cut flower commission men. They claimed that 
a variety must have a rounded compact form, one that 
could be shipped easily without bruising; in addition 
to this it must be self-colored, either distinctively 
white, yellow, red, or a near approach to pink; it must 
possess foliage right up to the flower on stiff stems; 
so arbitrary was the enforcement of this rule that a 
new variety not possessing these particular qualities 
was condemned and cast aside as worthless; there was 
no place for the fine, graceful, recurving Japanese type, 
and what few varieties of these were grown had a hard 
time to hold in line, and were simply tolerated. 

This unwritten rule practically excluded all new 
sorts which were of the variable colored order, such as 
bronze, lavender, and any intermediate shadings, and 
narrowed the field down to so few varieties that many 



*By E. G. Hill, Richmond, Ind. 



SEED RAISING AND HYBRIDIZING 95 

seedling growers gave up in despair, and not a few lost 
interest and ceased all effort. This was particularly 
true of the private gardeners; a few, however, perse- 
vered, but with lessened zeal, the result being that a 
minimum number of American novelties have ap- 
peared since the years mentioned. 

Notwithstanding this circumscribed field a few 
desirable American seedlings have been introduced 
from year to year and have added charm and interest 
to Chrysanthemum culture. With the waning interest 
in seedling Chrysanthemum raising came a great fall- 
ing off in the popularity of the Autumn Queen; this 
always results when the element of novelty is eliminated. 

With the advent of the splendid Australian sorts, 
and the additional latitude allowed and recommended 
bj the Chrysanthemum Society of America, in pro- 
viding for classes that might have artificial supports, 
if necessary, and for short stemmed exhibits on mossed 
boards, greater interest is being taken in the Chrysan- 
themum, and as a consequence, novelties were never in 
greater demand than they are at the present time. 
Eenewed activity is noted along the old lines and 
new varieties of American origin may be looked for 
in increased numbers. 

Is it profitable to raise seedling Chrysanthemums? 
Will it pay to give time, skill and care to the raising 
of new varieties? This is a leading question and one 
upon which depends the future popularity of the 
Chrysanthemum, in measure, at least. 

There is but one answer and that is an affirmative 
one: Yes, it will pay. A good novelty will bring 
adequate returns for the time and effort put forth in 
its production. This is a mercenary view to take, but 
whether we like it or no, it is a potent factor in the 
evolution of either the Eose, the Carnation or the 



96 THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 

Chrysanthemum. To obtain best results, cross-fertiliza- 
tion must be resorted to; careless or indifferent work 
here, or haphazard gathering of seed, fertilized only in 
the imagination, or depending upon insect agency, will 
not bring satisfactory results; perhaps in isolated in- 
stances a novelty of merit may be produced, but expe- 
rience teaches it to be an utterly unreliable procedure. 
The experience of successful producers of Chrysanthe- 
mums goes to show that scientific methods alone will 
win. Methods based upon accredited results and using 
carefully recorded data, form the only true way of 
securing satisfactory returns from efforts to improve 
the Chrysanthemum. 

HYBRIDIZING THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 

The right way to proceed with hybridizing is to 
conceive an ideal in the mind before commencing the 
work. Perhaps the raiser of new Chrysanthemums 
cannot, like Michael Angelo, see an angel in a block of 
rough hewn marble, but in similar manner we can 
picture in our minds what a blending of the finer 
qualities and attributes of two parent Chrysanthemums 
may bring forth — perhaps not exactly a winged angel, 
but possibly an almost angelic creation of petals, form 
and bloom may be the resultant outcome. If, for 
illustration, a variety possessing an exquisite color, but 
lacking in other qualities necessary to make the ideal, 
is to be improved upon, the pollen parent selected 
should possess the qualities lacking in the female 
variety selected. In other words, seek to breed into your 
prospective seedling an improved form, or stiffer stem, 
or other good quality lacking in the mother selected. 
If you have a color scheme to work, keep this in mind 
in selecting the pollen from a plant which harmonizes, 
in measure, at least, with the variety you propose 



SEED RAISING AND HYBRIDIZING 97 

operating upon. The experience of the writer is 
against any radical cross-color scheme; if whites and 
reds are crossed, in nearly every case the progeny will 
have an indefinite color; keep well within similar color 
lines for best results, never losing sight of the ideal 
aimed at. 

Ordinarily, it is best that the plant used for seed 
producing should be pot grown in a somewhat sterile 
soil, so as to have the reproductive organs in as near 
a normal condition as possible; excesBive use of stim- 
ulants or an over-rich soil tends to unduly develop the 
reproductive organs in many varieties. Plants grown 
under a high state of culture are apt to be less inclined 
to produce well developed seed, because of an excessive 
flow of sap; not so with the pollen producing parent — 
oftentimes it is best to give good culture in order to 
secure a liberal supply of pollen. 

GATHERING AND APPLYING THE POLLEN 

When gathering pollen a dry, sunshiny day should 
be selected, as it is generally easier to collect it in 
bright weather than on a dark or murky day, the 
plants perfecting a larger quantity and in better con- 
dition for use in fine weather. One method of apply- 
ing the pollen to the stigma is to select a piece of soft 
pine, whittled down to the size of a toothpick, chewing 
the point into fibrous shreds — these will hold the 
particles of pollen and they can be deposited on the 
stigma immediately. This is the direct method. 

Another and more speedy way is to take a piece 
of clean glass of such size that it can be placed directly 
under the center of the flower. It is best to have 
assistants hold the piece of glass, and when the flower 
is held over the glass, in a horizontal position, a rap 
from the back of a knife will cause the pollen to be 



98 THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 

shed upon the glass. This is perhaps the most prac- 
tical and simple method of procedure so far as pollen 
gathering is concerned. Pollen gathered and placed in 
glass vials or receptacles can be used at such times as 
the stigma of the flower to be operated upon is in 
proper condition. Pollen of the Chrysanthemum will 
retain its vital function for several weeks, if kept in 
an equable temperature, in fact the pollen of the early 
flowered varieties will retain its vitality for crossing 
purposes during the entire season. This ability to pre- 
serve the pollen has its advantages in that it enables 
the operator to use the pollen from the very early 
flowering varieties upon the midseason and later sorts, 
thus allowing an opportunity for enlarging and embel- 
lishing the simjiler forms of the early kinds. Seedlings 
from such crossing generally perfect their flowers at 
an earlier date than those belonging to the seed parent. 

The preparation of the flower to be pollenized is 
generally a cutting back of the petals to within an inch 
of their base, some even closer — this is done so that 
the operator may place the little granules of pollen dust 
directly upon the stigma in the petal tube. Some 
remove the entire center of the flower when the direct 
method obtains; this is considered by others unneces- 
sary, regarding it as too radical treatment, tending to 
destroy the functional powers of the bloom. To have 
absolutely accurate results it is best to remove the 
])ollen-bearing stamens, in order to prevent any self- 
fertilization. 

Another method is to gather the pollen and shake 
it over the pistils of the flower which is to act the part 
of seed bearer. This requires a larger quantity of 
pollen to be effective, but if the pollen is to be had in 
quantity, it is usually a satisfactory way. The essential 
thing in successful crossing is to be careful to perform 



SEED RAISING AND HYBUIDIZING 99 

the operation when the reproductive organs are fully 
developed and perfect. This knowledge will be easily 
acquired by experience and comes only by observation 
and practice. 

Owing to the prevalence of bees and other insects 
at the time the Chrysanthemums are in bloom, it is 
well to sack or tie the heads of flowers crossed in 
tissue or paraffine paper. This is considered useless by 
many persons who have worked at crossing the Chrys- 
anthemum, but it should be done to prevent insect inter- 
ference. 

The importance of correct atmospheric conditions 
cannot be overrated. After the plants have been 
pollenized, it is best to select a dry, airy house where 
a moderate temperature is maintained. The great 
drawback to ripening Chrysanthemum seed, and the 
cause of failure in most cases, is the excess of moisture 
found in the house where the plants are placed. 
Where there are overliead steam or hot water pipes, it 
is a good plan to have a shelf on which to place the 
pots so that the heads fertilized may be sufficiently 
near the pipes for the heat to take up any excess of 
moisture. Keeping the heads dry is certainly one of 
the essential requisites for ripening the seed. The 
climatic conditions existing in Australia and in 
southern France are a helpful and important factor 
in ripening the seed in those localities, hence the many 
splendid varieties appearing there. 

SOWING THE SEED 

After harvesting and cleaning the seed, sow it in 
January, using a leaf mold, if procurable. If this be 
not available, then any good garden mold, free from 
manure, will answer, but the soil should be of a light 
character. Some cover the seed with soil, but unques- 



;100 THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 

tionably the best covering is a thin layer of very fine, 
clean sand, because of the minute size of most Chrysan- 
themum seeds. 

WATERING 

Have a pot of water standing by the seed box or 
pots, whichever is used, and in it a Scollay's gum 
sprinkler, so that a mist of water may be given when- 
ever there is any appearance of drying. To let Chrysan- 
themum seed go dry after it has made an effort to 
germinate will certainly cause the tiny germ to die. 

It is on record that out of thirty-five seedling 
Chrysanthemums carefully bred by. one expert, three 
varieties were selected. These three sorts netted the 
raiser over $6000 from their sale the following year. 
Take another example — the same person, at a subse- 
quent date, sent to California and had grown for him 
several hundred of the latest and finest varieties of 
Chrj^santhemums, thinking that by natural causes, or 
through insect agency, enough of the flowers would 
become pollinated to give some high grade seed. Seed 
in quantity was returned, 6000 germinated, some 
5000 were flowered, and, as a result of all this labor 
and time expended, less than twelve were eventually 
selected, and only three were graded as distinct and good 
enough to merit names, and not one out of the whole 
lot ever niade a permanent place for itself. Seedling 
raising is far from being an exact science ! 

After all the details given above, the reader and 
would-be raiser of seedling Chr3'santhemums will ask: 
"Does it pay to go to all this trouble and bother?" 
and in spite of failures and in the face of ridiculously 
low percentages of success, the enthusiast will look his 
questioner straight in the eye and reply : "It does !'^ 



CHAPTER XIV 

Siwrts 

A large numl)er of good Chrysanthemums have 
originated as "sports." This term is of rather obscure 
meaning to the average person in its application to 
flowers, although perfectl}^ well understood by horticul- 
turists. A Chrysanthemum or any other flower is said 
to "sport" when it produces a flower totally different 
in color, and sometimes in form as well, from the 
original. For example, a pure white flower may appear 
upon a Chrysanthemum that naturally produces pink 
flowers — a white one may sport into a yellow. Such 
variations from the type are often decided acquisitions, 
and an effort is usually made to fix the "sport," or, 
in other words, to obtain from the shoot that produced 
the flower, plants that will continue the variation and 
give similar flowers. A "sport," therefore, is the dis- 
tinguishing term applied to a Chrysanthemum that has 
been obtained through a natural variation of some 
existing variety. It is in every respect a new Chrysan- 
themum, and in merit usually equals, and in some cases 
even surpasses, the variety that gave it birth. When a 
new variety is therefore cataloged as a "sport" from some 
specified kind, a knowledge of the parent is a fairly 
safe index as to the prol)able merit of the progeny. 
To cite a few instances. Glory of the Pacific, a pink 
variety, gave rise to Polly Rose, white, and Cremo, 
yellow; Viviand Morel produced Charles Davis, Lady 
Hanham and Mrs. J. Ritson; Mme. Carnot gave Mrs. 
W. Mease and G. Wermig; Nellie Pockett sported into 



102 THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 

the still more beautiful Cheltoni, and the latest addition 
to the numerous "sports" is a pure white counterpart 
of that fine early pink Chrysanthemum, Mrs. Coombes. 

The underlying causes of "sports" are not easy to 
explain; they are freaks of nature and of welcome 
appearance when, as often happens, they give us the 
counterpart of a grand Chrysanthemum in another 
color; something that years of hybridizing and raising 
from seed with the same object in view may fail of 
accomplishment. It is curious, too, that a variety will 
often remain true to itself for several years, then, 
suddenly, and sometimes simultaneously in widely re- 
mote places, will develop sporting proclivities with 
exactly similar results; a sport identically alike in all 
respects having been known to appear in three or four 
separate places the same year. In order to "fix" a 
"sport" — by which is meant obtaining plants that will 
perpetuate the flower — recourse must be had to propa- 
gation. 

If the plant that "sported" has been grown to a 
single stem, bearing only one flower, in all probability 
the usual young shoots that spring up from the base 
of the same plant will partake of the same character, 
but on the otlier hand there is no certainty that they 
will, as reversion to the parent type the following year 
is by no means uncommon. A case in point occurred 
last season. The pink Chrysanthemum, Mrs. Barclay, 
in England, produced a "sport" that was almost white ; 
a distinct and very beautiful flower. Young plants of 
it were quite generally distributed, purchased by other 
growers in the spring of 1904, but when they flowered 
the following autumn all produced pink flowers — had, in 
fact, reverted to the parent Mrs. Barclay. In most 
cases, however, a "sport" is easily fixed, especially if 



SPORTS 103 

cuttings are secured from the stem or shoot that bore 
the flower. 

A good plan to encourage stem growths and at 
once secure a goodly number of the new kind is to take 
the plant up, if planted on a bench — or if in a pot to 
take it out — and lay the whole plant down horizontally 
upon a bed of sand in the propagating house, covering 
the stem with sand but leaving the leaves intact, and, 
as far as possible, exposed. If kept moist young shoots 
will grow out from the stem of which cuttings can be 
made in the usual manner. Tlie white ^'sport'^ of Mrs. 
Coombes, previously mentioned, appeared on a single 
stem plant which was treated as here advised. From 
the cuttings secured, other cuttings were made, and, 
last November, one hundred plants — every one of which 
produced a pure white flower — represented the progeny 
of the single ^'sport" that occurred the previous year, 
there being not a single reversion. 

Upon bush plants, or plants bearing more than 
one flower, "sports" are more likely to occur, and it 
may be that only one flower shoot on the entire plant 
has sported. In such a case it is obviously necessary 
to propagate entirely from that shoot, as often 
there is no sign of any suitable side growth, as they 
have all been previously removed in the interest of 
the flower bud. The grower need not despair, however, 
of securing young plants. The best procedure in this 
case is to carefully cut off the leaves with a heel or 
portion of the wood of the shoot attached, inserting 
these as cuttings in a pot of sand, keeping the. same 
moist and enclosed in a propagating case, or under a 
bell glass, till roots have been emitted and young shoots 
put forth. 

The possibility that any of our best Chrysanthe- 
mums may at any moment "sport" into something new 



104 THE CHRYSAXTHEMUM 

and of equal or greater merit, adds additional interest 
and the zest of expectation to every flowering season. 
For example: A white Wm. Duckham or Col. D. 
Appleton would have an enormous commercial value, 
yet it may possibly happen. The entire process that 
brings it about, however, is one of Nature's secrets that 
we cannot fathom, nor is there any known method of 
treatment that may be said to be conducive to an evolu- 
tion or manifestation of this natural freak. It has 
happened since the early days of Chrysanthemum 
culture and will continue so to do, but always spasmod- 
ically and with uncertainty. 



CHAPTER XV 

Hardy Cltrijsanthemums* 

The history of the Chrysanthemum in America 
shows that many years before the flower attained its 
present popularity it was known and grown and ap- 
preciated as a humble outdoor garden flower. Its 
merit and adaptability along these lines are quite over- 
shadowed by the large exhibition types, yet this should 
not be so. Although all are the progeny of one 
common ancestor, in no sense do they come into con- 
flict, each fills its own separate niche in Flora's temple, 
and the hardy types should certainly hold the largest 
part in popular estimation, since they come within the 
means of all who have a small area of ground that 
may be cultivated about the home. 

The hardy Chrysanthemums give us gay colors and 
lavish beauty at a season and time when nothing else is 
to be had. Even though frost withholds its chilly grip, 
the best of summer and autumn gardens are in the 
sere and yellow leaf by the middle of October ; but the 
floral cycle of the year need not end before another 
month or more. Another chapter remains, one that, 
as yet, is as a sealed book to many. Those who have 
opened its pages willingly admit that the hardy Chrys- 
anthemum brings forth a most captivating climax and 
a fitting conclusion to the year of flowers in the out- 
door garden. 

At present we see too few of them, and these in 
unfrequented places. In some country cottage gardens 



♦By R. A. Vincent, Whitmarsh, Md. 




Fig. 2(J TYPES OF HARDY CHRYSANTHEMUMS 



HARDY CHRYSANTHEMUMS 107 

there are hardy Chrysanthemums that have been grow- 
ing there for half a century, and, in November, tossing 
their vari-colored garlands in the breeze in rich pro- 
fusion, gay floral tributes to all other vegetation now 
passed into its long winter sleep. A few degrees of 
frost do them no harm and they rise superior to the 
seasonal storms of wind and rain that pertain to their 
blooming period. The same infinite variability of form 
and color that adds so much to the charm of their 
greenhouse relatives is found in the hardy types. 
Great size is eliminated, but all else that is precious and 
beautiful in flowers, they possess to the fullest extent. 
Several types of hardy varieties are shown in Fig. 26. 

Chrysanthemums are steadily coming more and 
more into popular favor. In the fall, when our gardens 
put on their somber coat of winter, comes the hardy 
Chrysanthemum to cheer and beautify the grounds, 
trying, as it were, to extend "the good old summer 
time." It is then that the happy suburbanite, or 
Chrysanthemum amateur, can look with pride at the 
Pompons that he has grown, equally as good as those 
of the practical florist, and that right out in liis garden 
or window box. 

How well do we remember the old-fashioned Pom- 
pon — the pride of our grandmother's garden. They 
were dull white, pale pink, a kind of a peculiar bronze 
maroon, but not like those we have today. Great strides 
have been made in the last few years in improving 
this type, and they have well kept pace with their giant 
relatives in wonderful combinations of color and 
different style of flower, from the tiny close-quilled 
variety, not larger than the tip of one's finger, to the 
exquisitely beautiful Aster type and those as single as 
a Daisy in the most delicate tints and shades and form 
of flower. Some have broad petals, others sharp; some 



108 THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 

long and twisted like the Cactus Dahlia, others small 
and compact. It would seem as if the whole scope of 
variation had been gone over to produce such an array 
of colors as is now found in them. Those who knew 
them in the past are surprised at some of the magnifi- 
cent varieties of recent introduction, which have created 
such great enthusiasm and brought the Pompons into 
more popular favor. 

That they are hardy and of easy culture does not 
mean that they need no care at all; in fact, there 
are very few flowers that respond more readily, or 
pay better interest for the care bestowed on them, 
than the Pompon Chrysanthemums do. Planted and 
allowed to take care of themselves they will produce 
a surprising amount of flowers. But by planting- 
healthy young plants every spring, and giving them 
good, practical, common sense treatment, the surprise 
at the amount of good flowers developed will be still 
greater. The methods of culture given here are for 
the Middle Atlantic States, and outside the limits of 
this latitude must be varied according to circumstances 
and conditions. 

There are many florists who do not look at the 
Pompon Chrysanthemums in a commercial way, but 
as a necessary evil or a luxury and not as a profitable 
investment, but the fact is that there is money in them 
— rather more, to a certain extent, than in the large 
flowering varieties, as better results can be obtained 
at less expense, and they do not need the attention 
that must be given the larger ones to bring them to 
even a fair state of perfection. To grow Pompons first 
care must be exercised in the selection of varieties 
suitable to the different uses they are intended to fill, 
either for cut flowers, bedding, pot plants, window 
garden, etc. 



HAKDY CIIllYSANTHEMUMS 109 

For cut flowers the large flowering or Aster types 
are the best, care being taken to select only the long 
stemmed varieties. These can be grown so as to produce 
three or four flowers on sprays fifteen to twenty inches 
long, three to five sjorays to the plant. They should bo 
planted where they can be protected from heavy frost 
and winds, as the flowers will not come to perfection 
if exposed to severe frost. A good practice is to grow 
them in the field, planting good, young pot-grown 
plants as soon as all danger from frost is over, in 
rows three and one-half feet apart and twelve inches 
in the row, topping back until there are five or six 
good branches. These will make bushes about two feet 
high by the time to take them in. Those to bloom 
early are put in cold frames three feet deep, planting 
them almost as close as they will stand, this being done 
as soon as they cojnmence to show buds, which is gener- 
ally about the middle of September. The sash is kept 
off in daytime, but put on when the nights are cool, 
so that they are in bloom by the time the outdoor 
flowers are killed by the frost. More are put in in 
about two weeks after the first, the last being left 
as late as can be done safely. Even if they get a light 
touch of frost, it does not hurt them until the flowers 
commence to show color, when they are put in a house 
where they can be given a little heat when it is very 
cold. In this way a succession of crops may be main- 
tained from early October until late December, and, 
by doing some disbudding, sprays of from two to three 
flowers on good, long stems will be produced. There 
is nothing better for bunching or table decorating at 
this time of the year. 

Then there should be some of the exquisite 
smaller varieties grown in the same way to be used 
for the making up of bunches of the larger flowers. 



110 THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 

giving them a refined finish that can be obtained in no 
other way. Long sprays are magnificent when grown 
to perfection and there is scarcely anything better 
for decorative work where such sprays can be "used. 
The best way to grow them is in a house, and giving 
f:hem about the same general treatment that is given 
the large varieties, except the disbudding. They must 
have plenty of room so as to secure good foliage and 
flowers all up the stems, in which state they are unsur- 
passed for beauty, and deserve to be more extensively 
grown in this manner. 

As pot plants, the small or dwarf varieties have 
no equal, either for specimen plants in large pots or for 
the retail trade in small pots. They should be grown 
in two and one-half or three-inch pots until the middle 
of July or first of August, then shifted to four or five- 
inch pots and plunged in a frame or some place where 
they can be watered and fed to some extent and a 
little care given to pinching back, although the proper 
varieties will not need much of that. N'ice plants 
twelve to twenty inches high and the same in diameter, 
with heads on them like an Azalea, will result if 
well grown. 

For bedding outside, varieties that are rather 
dwarf are the best where it is not desirable to have 
them growing all summer or when they are wanted to 
fill in beds where Coleus, Crotons, Acalyphas, etc., have 
been used in the summer. They can be grown in the 
garden or nursery and after the other plants begin to 
show the effects of the cold nights, then the Chrysan- 
themums may be carefully lifted and planted in the 
beds with very satisfactory results. It is better to do 
this when the weather is somewhat cloudy and not 
windy; then, if they be well watered, no bad effects 
will follow and the beds will make a verv favorable 



HARDY CHRYSAXTHExMUMS 111 

showing far into the winter. To have the best results 
from open air culture, however, they should be planted 
in the spring in the ground where they are to flower. 
This may be in beds or borders, among slirubs, along 
hedges, at the base of buildings — in fact, given a 
fair quality of soil there is hardly a position about the 
home that cannot be embellished with hardy Chrysan- 
themums if so desired. 

A plan practiced by many is, in spring to dig up 
the clumps that have stood out all winter and carefully 
divide them into small pieces, each having two or three 
small shoots attached, again replanting these. This 
plan answers very well, but it is preferable to have 
a new stock of plants each year, fresh raised from 
cuttings of the young shoots. In order, however, to 
follow out this plan, it is necessary to have the con- 
venience of glass, and some of the plants must be lifted 
and placed under glass for early propagation. Those 
who are contemplating culture on a large scale would 
be well advised to folloAV this plan entirely, but it need 
not concern the amateur who has no glass at all at 
his disposal. 

He may plant his Chrysanthemums and leave them 
in the same position for a number of years by giving 
them a good top dressing of manure each spring. 
When left in this way it is beneficial to cut out some 
of the weaker of the many shoots that come up in spring, 
as a concentration of strength upon those that remain 
will show improved results at flowering time. Only 
when they show signs of diminishing strength need they 
be disturbed, and then they may be lifted, divided and 
replanted in spring as previously advised. One thing 
is certain, the Pompon Chrysanthemum with its adapt-, 
ability to all surroundings, its ability to do well under 



112 THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 

the most adverse circumstances — thanks to its ironclad 
constitution — its infinite variety of type and wide range 
of color, is a flower for the masses and well worthy 
of the fullest measure of popularity. 



CHAPTER XVI 

Chrysanthemums for ike South and West 

There is probably a large and promising field for 
Chrysanthemum culture South and West in a latitude 
where there is no danger of frost to militate against the 
development of the flowers. The differences in climatic 
conditions and environment, however, give rise to cul- 
tural problems that must be met and solved. It would 
almost appear that there is a necessity of originating 
varieties to meet the conditions. This should not bo 
an impossible task, especially when we regard the 
amazing development and improvement of the Chrysan- 
themum as it is today in Europe and America as com- 
pared with the primitive types originally brought from 
and still cultivated in the Orient, the land of its birth. 
It can hardly be assumed that we have reached the limit 
or exhausted the possibilities of the flower. The follow- 
ing extracts from a paper contributed to and read at 
the meeting of the Chrysanthemum Society of America 
at Chicago, in ^NTovember, 1903, by Mr. F. P. Davis of 
Mobile, Alabama, shows the needs of the latitude in 
which he resides and are suggestive of means whereby 
we may still further extend the culture of Chrysan- 
themums. Australian and New Zealand growers have 
achieved wonders within the last decade. Intelligent 
effort, combined with a knowledge of the necessities, 
would, in all probability, be eventually rewarded by the 
creation of a class of Chrysanthemums especially 
adapted to the South, as already one or two varieties 
afford evidence of the possibility. 



11-i THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 

A ttpe: its treatment in the south* 

Surprising as it may seem, the modern Chrysan- 
themum is yet a novelty in many parts of the extreme 
South. Our native florists have not been alive to the 
spirit of progress and those who have come to us 
schooled by the contact with thrift have been of the not 
uncommon class of mind that, though in the full 
fruition of methods, cannot apply them to conditions 
and locality. It is no longer a problem to evade the 
dangers of cold, but to control heat is the obstacle that 
confronts us, and makes Chicago better suited to flori- 
culture than Mobile. 

Few of the many very excellent varieties of Chrys- 
anthemum can expand their flowers under the influence 
of a tropical sun. This one condition is what taxes the 
mind of the Southern grower. By very close observa- 
tion we must find a type that meets the emergency 
and weigh our selections by its standard. Any robust 
variety that grows quickly from late planting will do, 
provided its flowers do not linger in the bud, but burst 
and open like a Eose. No matter what the glowing 
eulogy in the catalog may say for it, if it fail in this 
one quality it disappoints the grower. 

In no variety do we find this quality so strongly 
in evidence as in the old Golden Gate, a feature which 
it possesses to a degree almost incomparable. Let the 
great growers study their stock for this simple prereq- 
uisite, and put into their catalog a list suited to 
the South. They will do much to increase their own 
trade and assist the Southern grower on the road to 
success. 

In my own home city, where 40,000 souls breathe 
the pure air from the Gulf of Mexico, and 20,000 more 
live in its beautiful suburbs, there is not one modern 



♦By F. p. Davis, Mobile, Ala. 



CHRYSANTHEMUMS FOR THE SOUTH 115 

greenhouse where Chrysanthemums are grown for sale. 
This condition is largely due to the many trials in the 
past, where their best efforts have been failures for want 
of the proper type. 

As to treatment, it is simple, but do not be deluded 
with the idea that a first-class Chrysanthemum can be 
grown in the South without the protection of glass. 
Surely not to give it heat, but protection from rain and 
wind it must have. It is tru.e the sides may be only of 
canvas, and here we may obtain our ventilation, but 
we must be able to make the house perfectly close in 
order to combat insects and keep out storm winds. My 
experience has been that solid beds are better than 
benches, for the reason that they do not dry out so fast, 
and we can better risk keeping them a little on the dry 
side as a protection against mealy bugs. Of course, 
perfect drainage must be given, for which purpose I 
have used coarse gravel with the best results. It would 
be suicidal to use any wood in the construction of the 
beds or even as plant stakes, as white ants, or wood lice, 
as we know them, are sure to appear about the time 
your plants look the most promising. These wood. lice 
arp only second to the corythuca in point of destruc- 
tiveness. 

I should advise all growers who are ambitious to 
achieve success in the South to shun commercial 
fertilizers. I know of one grower who has been quite 
successful with liquid manure made from cotton seed 
meal rotted in water for sixty days and used very much 
diluted, but I take my chances with a heavy mulch of 
rotted sweepings from the cow lot, having first given 
the beds a light dusting of bone meal, and then trust 
to ample nourishment at flowering time from copious 
watering, this being too late to give much encourage- 
ment to the mealy bugs. 



116 THE CHKYSAXTHEMUM 

For the corythuca I have used, with the hest results, 
weak kerosene emulsion, sprayed on the under side of 
the foliage, this pest being similar in habit to the red 
spider, but not having the protection of the web. As 
the corythuca is not so well known outside of the cotton 
growing States, I may ask j'our indulgence to give him 
an introduction to you. It huddles in flocks on the 
under side of the leaves and suggests to the naked eye 
a flock of sheep as you may have seen them grazing in 
the woods. When the plant is shaken the little fellows 
fly to the ground and at once begin to scramble back to 
the stem of the plant, which they climb and start a new 
colony. The body is about the size of a good fat black 
aphis. The wings stand out so that it has the appear- 
ance of a woolly sheep. In color it is a dirty gray. It 
feeds altogether on the under side of the leaf, and its 
presence is therefore not noticed until the mischief is 
done. AVhile the touch of kerosene is certain death to 
it, I have never known a house of plants to be free of 
it or amount to much after it once made a showing. 
The evaporation of tobacco juice effectively rids the 
house of aphides, and we no longer look upon this pest 
with any great alarm. 

I have long ago concluded that while we may be 
very successful with the Chrysanthemum in the far 
South, by growing the proper type and giving it careful 
treatment, we may never hope to reach that stage of 
perfection which is attained further North. Climate 
and conditions are against us. 



CHAPTER XYII 

Chrysanthemums in Australia 

Only within recent years has the Chrysanthemum 
come into special prominence in x\ustralia, hut already 
the Australian varieties have attained a world wide 
reputation. It is proper that some mention should be 
made of them, for it cannot be denied that the Austra- 
lian varieties have given an impetus to Chrysanthemum 
culture in America within the last few years, owing to 
the marked adaptability shown by the Australian varie- 
ties to respond and do well under the conditions of 
climate and environment that prevail here. The prob- 
able explanation for tliis is the similarity of conditions 
in regard to great heat and sunshine, inasmuch as for 
years we have experienced — often at considerable cost — 
the utter refusal of some of the very best European 
varieties to respond to the best of culture in America. 
The Australians "came and saw and conquered." 
Already they have won universal recognition, have been 
the (^lief winners at recent exhibitions, and this, prob- 
ably, is but a foretaste of what will follow. Yet Aus- 
tralian methods of culture differ markedly from those 
followed here, except possibly in the extreme South and 
in the Far West, where good flowers may be grown in 
the open ground as in Australia. 

Among the several raisers who have taken up the 
Chr3^santhemum in x\ustralia, one of the most success- 
ful, and one whose varieties are in cultivation in every 
good collection in our country today, is Mr. Thomas W. 
Pockett of Malvern, Victoria. Some of the leading 



118 THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 

varieties from this raiser, and which have been dis- 
tributed from England by W. Wells & Co., are: In 
1898, Nellie Pockett and T. Carrington; 1899, Lord 
Ludlow; 1900, Lord Salisbury and Miss Ida Barwood; 

1901, C. J. Salter, Charles Longley and W. E. Church ; 

1902, Mrs. T. W. Pockett, Ben Wells, Mrs. E. Thirkell 
and Henry Barnes; 1903, W. Duckham, F. A. Cobbold, 
Harrison Dick, Leila Filkins, Mary Inglis, S. T. 
Wright, Maynell and W. A. Etherington; 1904, Dora 
Stevens, Merstham Yellow, Mrs. W. Duckham and J. H. 
Doyle, while 1905 has a large offering yet to be proved. 
A citation of the foregoing varieties proves how well 
Mr. Pockett's efforts have been rewarded, yet he says 
in "striving to raise what can be grown successfully, 
progress appears very slow in practice when ideal types 
are fixed in the memory." 

Mr. Pockett contributes the following remarks on 
methods of culture in his country, which may also, in 
part, be instructive and of assistance to growers here 
who reside in States where climatic conditions are 
somewhat similar: 

"In the year 1884 the Chrysanthemum was brought 
prominently before the Melbourne public during the 
Chrysanthemum show of the Horticultural Improve- 
ment Society. This exceeded all expectations an^may 
be claimed as the first time that large blooms were 
shown in Australia. The popularity of the Chrysan- 
themum soon extended over all parts of Australia and 
'New Zealand. Shows were held and much time was 
taken up by enthusiastic growers in growing blooms and 
specimen plants for the shows. 

"For a few years, in many parts of Australia, the 
plants were put in the open ground in spring and very 
little attention was given until February, then the 
growths would be reduced to about six or nine shoots; 



CHRYSANTHEMUMS IX AUSTRALIA 



119 



each shoot was allowed to carry one bud, and by the aid 
of a little liquid manure and the reducing of all side 




Fig. 27 — CHRYSANTHEMUMS AT THE MALVERN 
GARDENS, VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA 



buds and growths, flowers could be grown for exhibition. 
But competition soon proved that to be successful more 
attention was necessar}^, and with the aid of calico 



120 THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 

during the time tlie flowers were expanding, or growing 
the plants in pots, and putting them under glass or 
calico coverings during the flowering period, there was 
a better chance of winning prizes. Still, many odd 
blooms are yet cut in the open ground and set up 
for competition with good results. The illustration 
(Fig. 27) is from a photograph of plants grown and 
flowered in the open. It was taken after a soaking rain 
and is not a fair example of them at their best. 

"Of special interest is the way the Japanese varie- 
ties are now grown here for exhibition. Some of the 
most successful exhibitors, especially in the cooler parts 
of Australia, grow and flower their plants in pots, much 
in the same way as they are treated in England; only 
many growers here have a light framework covered with 
calico instead of glass. The plants are put under cover 
when the petals show color. The pot grown bloom is 
usually better finished. Ten-inch pots are generally 
used and the plants allowed to carry one, two or three 
blooms. The majority of growers for exhibition are 
amateurs and depend solely on beds made of ordinary 
soil. Some have retentive soil, while others have almost 
pure sand. A rather free loamy soil is preferred. 
The bed is simply made by trenching the ground about 
eighteen inches deep. If the land be flat the bed is 
raised about one foot above the ordinary level and the 
subsoil drained with agricultural pipes or other suitable 
drainage material. 

"Plants are put out in September or October about 
three feet by two feet apart. Each plant is allowed to 
carry three shoots. Very little attention is given 
beyond staking and removing any superfluous growths 
until February. At that season the buds are selected, 
and when they are considered to be safe it is usual to 
give two or three applications of weak liquid manure. 



CHRYSANTHEMUMS IN AUSTRALIA 121 

although some seasons, especially on rich soil, liquid 
manure is often withheld. The plants generally carry 
three flowers each and the greatest care required is 
when the flowers are expanding. Calico is the cover- 
ing generally used on the framework for protecting 
the blooms from rain, heavy dew and strong sunshine. 
The hight of the plants, when in flower, varies from 
three to six feet." 

It should be stated here that Australia being in 
the Southern Hemisphere, has its seasons the reverse 
of ours, bringing Christmas day there in our mid- 
summer. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

Insect Pests and Diseases 

Incessant watchfulness must be the rule in order 
to, as far as possible, keep the plants from suffering 
injury through attacks of insects or diseases. It is 
almost impossible to avoid some of these visitations, 
but others, and these mostly of the worst type, are often 
resultant from neglect to maintain proper atmospheric 
conditions. 

INSECTS 

Aphis, or Fly, both green and black, is with us 
always, more or less, from the time the cutting is 
struck until the flower expands. At whatever time 
aphis appears proceed at once to take measures of 
extermination. Upon young plants it can easily be 
killed by sprinkling them with tobacco dust, but after 
they are planted and growing in permanent quarters 
fumigation must be resorted to, using whatever fancy 
may dictate, with the choice between tobacco stems or 
dust, or sundry preparations which have nicotine for 
their chief component. It is generally- in spring and 
fall when aphis is most prevalent. If the pest be thor- 
oughly eradicated at planting time and the plants start 
quickly into healthy growth they will be comparatively 
immune for many weeks, but the coming of autumn 
days generally brings fly again. Every effort should be 
made to eradicate it completely before any buds show 
color, as from that time all fumigation must cease. 
Should fly appear upon the buds or opening blooms, 
however, it must be cleaned out, or ruination of the 



INSECT PESTS AND DISEASES 123 

flower will result. A most effectual method is to take 
a sheet of prepared tobacco paper — like aphis punk or 
nicofume — and tie it around the stem under, but close 
up to the bud or bloom. The fumes of nicotine slowly 
evaporating will kill every fly and save a flower that 
otherwise would be utterly ruined. 

Red Spider and Thrips do not ordinarily infest 
Chrysanthemums and the grower is more or less to 
blame should they appear. They have to be reckoned 
with, however, as once let them get the upper hand 
they will not be exterminated till they have left serious 
and lasting evidence of their presence. For these, 
"prevention is better than cure," and the best pre- 
ventive is water. Spray thoroughly on all proper occa- 
sions, wetting the under as well as the upper surfaces 
of the leaves, and later, when artificial heat is turned 
on, damp down the house, if necessary, to counteract the 
hot, dry atmosphere which is generally responsible for 
the appearance of these pests. 

Should the necessity for remedial measures arise, 
water, already advised for the first line of defense, must 
also be the chief source of attack, supplemented for 
red spider with an application of sulphur to the hot 
water or steam pipes. Thrips can be exterminated by 
fumigating with tobacco. If the attack be a bad one, 
fumigate moderately for two or three successive nights 
in preference to doing it very strong in the attempt to 
destroy the pest at once. For the benefit of the inex- 
perienced it is well to state that red spider and thrips 
are scarcely visible to the naked eye, but their presence 
is soon manifested in discoloration of the leaves by the 
appearance of whitish spots and patches from which 
the pests have sucked the juices of the leaf. In the 
case of red spider a very fine web will be found on the 
under and sometimes the upper leaf surfaces. Because 



124 THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 

of their apparent insignificance do not think they can 
be trifled with, for they soon attain to millions in 
numbers and with a capacity for mischief beyond 
power of control if they are once allowed to get the 
upper hand. 

Caterpillars and Grasslioppers are a voracious host 
in their season and must be combated accordingly. 
Some seasons they are a terrible p^st. When butter- 
flies are numerous there will be a large succession of 
caterpillars as a consequence. Ordinarily they can be 
disposed of by watchfulness and hand picking, but if the 
pests should be beyond this means of control, recourse 
must be had to spraying with arsenate of lead or any 
suitable preparation that is poisonous to chewing 
insects. 

One of the worst of the caterpillar tribe is that 
commonly called the army worm. It is a nocturnal 
feeder, and, descending to the ground, hides in the soil 
during the day. It is of a dark color, in fact, nearly the 
color of the earth in which it hides. Coming forth at 
night it quickly ascends the plant and feeds upon the 
tender growing tip. When the presence of this pest is 
suspected a visit to the plants at night will result in 
its capture, if there. 

Large white or gray grubs often infest the soil. 
They are sometimes called cutworms because they cut 
asunder the 3'oung plant or eat the roots, in conse- 
quence of which it dies. These grubs are the larval 
stage of certain beetles and are more apt to be numerous 
in soil that has Iain dormant — as pasture or grassland — 
for a number of years, so that in making a compost of 
sod the observant grower will be on the lookout for 
this pest. When plants show signs of wilting examine 
them at the roots and if the grub in question be present 
it can easily be destroyed. Neglect to do this will 



IXSECT PESTS AXD DISEASES IZD 

result in its traveling to the next plant, which will be 
similarly destroyed. 

Hardly a year passes but some new pest appears 
to contribute its mite to the grower's burden of trouble. 
Last year brought two of them, both new to the writer. 
In one case just as the buds were unfolding it was 
noticed upon many of them something had eaten a 
small portion of the petals and apparently small frag- 
ments of the meal lay loose upon the flower. Closer 
examination revealed the fact that the pest was a tiny 
caterpillar only about one-eighth of an inch in length 
and of a light silvery gray color. Professor J. B. Smith, 
to whom specimens were submitted, replied: "The 
caterpillar at fault is a little span worm which has 
never before been accused of eating Chrysanthemums." 
It was eating them last year and in a most insidious 
manner. Not alone was it difficult to detect on account of 
its diminutiveness, but it covered itself with, and, when 
moving, carried upon its back chewed fragments of the 
petals it was feeding on, thus rendering its detection 
and destruction still more difficult. At this stage of 
flower development no remedies could be applied with- 
out risk of further damage and the only remedy was 
hand picking — a tedious operation calling for a minute 
examination of every flower. 

The other pest the writer had no opportunity of 
examining, but, as reported, it was most destructive. 
The insect belonged to the family of borers, and, having 
bored its way into the stem, proceeded upward, eating 
out the entire center, or core, of the stem, completely 
destroying the plant. Its presence could only be de- 
tected by the wilting of the plant when it had been 
injured to a degree beyond reparation or possible re- 
covery, and many plants were totally ruined. It is 
hard to fight a hidden foe ensconced within the heart 



126 THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 

of the victim, and it is to be hoped this borer will not 
become one of the regular annual pests. 

Grasshoppers are with us every year, varying in 
numbers, but always voracious. They make their way 
in through the open ventilators, and finding young 
Chrysanthemum a tasty morsel are content to remain, 
but war must be waged against them. The only effectual 
way seems to be catching them by hand, a lively occupa- 
tion, it would seem, and certainly so if pursued at mid- 
day. Go round in the early morning hours, however, 
before they have felt the warmth of the day, and it is 
then tolerably easy to catch and destroy them before 
they can make a flying leap to parts unknown. 

Other Bugs. — Several insects that come into the 
category usually designated as bugs are inimical to the 
welfare of Chrysanthemums. One of the worst offend- 
ers is a small winged beetle or fly usually called "the 
tarnished plant bug.^' It infests a variety of plants 
in the open air and if it finds its way into the Chrysan- 
themum house it quickly proceeds to make trouble in 
large doses unless a speedy check is put upon its inten- 
tions. The full grown adult is of a yellowish brown 
color and not quite a quarter of an inch in length. In 
addition to finding safety in flight it can also run fast 
and will often hide upon the plant when one is hunting 
it. Its mouth is armed with a pair of sharp piercers 
which it thrusts into the stem of the plant, sucking 
therefrom the sap, and, in consequence, plants that are 
attacked soon show the result in a drooping of the 
young growing tip or the growth becomes otherwise 
distorted. It also lays eggs while feeding, and these 
hatch upon the plant, the young commencing to feed 
in the same way, but the young can be destroyed before 
their wings form. The only way to combat the adults 
is by diligent searching and catching them by hand 



INSECT PESTS AND DISEASES 127 

before they take flight. In the early morning hours 
they can be most easily caught, being then somewhat 
sluggish. One thing is certain, it is a pest that cannot 
be trifled with, or it will do a vast amount of harm, 
resulting in complete deformity of the plant's growth. 

A somewhat similar bug is often around when 
the flowers are opening, and it leaves its dirty trail 
wherever it goes, especially so upon white flowers, whose 
petals show black spots where it is present. It, too, 
must be hunted out and destroyed — a by no means 
simple task — for when discovered it usually "plays 
possum,^' and, dropping down upon the plant, or hiding 
in the flower itself, keeps perfectly still, shamming 
death. 

Among the hosts of insects there is one, at least, 
to befriend the grower, and would that it came in larger 
numbers. This is the lady bug or lady bird, and 
doubtless so familiar to all as to need no description, at 
least in its adult stage with its shining red and black 
spotted jacket. Before it reaches this stage of develop- 
ment, however, it is a friend and feeds freely upon such 
aphides as it can find upon the plants. In the grub 
stage it has an elongated, flattish body of a leaden or 
slaty color, and it crawls about the plant searching 
for food, and, when finding a colony of aphides, makes 
short work of them. It feeds continuously till it 
changes into a chrysalis, when it remains gummed to 
the plant until its metamorphosis is completed into a 
winged adult. 

The Corythuca Gossypi is an insect common in the 
cotton growing States and a pest to be dreaded by those 
who grow Chrysanthemums there. Although a few 
instances have been recorded of its appearance in North- 
ern greenhouses the visitations so far have been rare. 
In view of what has happened in the past such a con- 



128 THE ClIRYSAXTHEMUM 

tingency might arise in which this insect would have 
to be reckoned with. Being forewarned we can also 
be forearmed. It is thus described by a Southern 
grower: "The body of the corythuca is about the size 
of a black aphis, in color a dirty gray, with wings that 
stand out, giving it the appearance of a small, woolly 
sheep. It feeds altogether on the under side of the 
leaf, congregating in colonie^like the red spider, but 
minus the web protection. When the plant is shaken 
it flies to the ground but soon finds its way back to the 
stem of the plant, and, ascending to a leaf, starts at 
once the formation of a new colony. If ever allowed 
to get the upper hand it means ruination of the plants. 
The touch of keroseuQ proves certain death to this 
insect, therefore a thorough spraying of the under sides 
of the leaves with a weak solution of kerosene emulsion 
is a sure means of exterminating the pest." 

FUNGOUS DISEASES 

There are several of these that have to be reckoned 
with, but, unlike insect pests, good cultivation goes a 
long way toward conferring immunity from them. At 
times, however, they will appear, although in a general 
way there is usually some contributing cause underlying 
the attack resultant from errors of treatment or of 
neglect. The worst of these is that known as 

Bust. — This is so called because the leaves develop 
numerous pustules which, bursting, scatter a fine rusty 
dust; in reality, the spores of the disease all over the 
leaves, beside which the leaves are badly discolored and 
disfigured by brown patches where the pustules formed. 
This disease gave growers great concern when it first 
appeared, and for a time it was thought it would exter- 
minate the Chrysanthemum, but now that we have 
come to a proper understanding of its nature and 



INSECT PESTS AND DISEASES 129 

methods of attack, it is not greatly feared. It is not, 
however, a thing to be tolerated and remedial measures 
should always be put in force upon its appearance. This 
disease first appeared in England in 1895, in the fol- 
lowing year it appeared in Massachusetts, and during 
the next few years hardly a collection existed in which 
it was not present. 

The plant pathologists, however, came to the 
rescue, explained its nature, suggested methods of 
combat and Avays to avoid attack, and, forearmed with 
knowledge, we need no longer be seriously alarmed 
should an outbreak suddenly appear. There are two 
periods of the year when rust, if present, breaks out 
in virulent form. One of these times is during August 
or early September. Conditions that favo-r attack are 
weak or overcrowded plants, with insufficient ventila- 
tion and excessive moisture, especially at night. Strong 
plants are resistant, and if spraying is performed early 
so that the leaves dry by night, this also is helpful. It 
alsa appears in spring about the time of propagating 
young stock, this attack, in all probability, resulting 
from spores that fell from the old plants the previous 
summer, found lodgment in the soil and conditions 
congenial to renewed energy when the plants com- 
menced their spring growth. 

"When an attack appears no time should be lost 
in applying remedial measures. If only a few leaves 
are infected they may be picked off and burned. The 
plants should then be sprayed with some antidote, of 
which there are several, but possibly none more effectual 
than sulphide of potassium or liver of sulphur. It 
is a hard stonelike substance easily obtainable from 
any large wholesale drug store. It dissolves readily 
in cold water and may be used with perfect safety in 
the proportion of one ounce dissolved in two gallons 



130 THE CHKYSANTHEMUM 

of water. The plants should be sprayed thoroughly, 
especially upon the under surfaces of the leaves, and, 
if the young stock it is proposed to propagate be known 
to be infected, the cuttings may be immersed in a 
slightly weaker solution previous to inserting them in 
the sand. A diligent application of this remedy weekly 
to the growing plants, at the same time maintaining 
correct atmospheric conditions, will usually overcome 
the attack and enable the cultivator to entirely extir- 
pate the disease. When fresh stock is purchased always 
examine the young plants carefully for evidences of 
rust, as it is often unwittingly introduced in this way, 
and, if unobserved, may taint the whole collection. 

Professor G. Massee, an eminent English author- 
ity, describes the Chrysanthemum rust as follows : 

"This very destructive parasite belongs to a group 
of fungi that have a bad record from the farmer's and 
horticulturist's standpoint. In its life history it pro- 
duces two forms of fruit. The form of fruit in 
evidence during the visible attack is what is termed 
the uredo stage or summer form of fruit. The use of 
this form of fruit is to enable the fungus to extend its 
range of distribution as widely and quickly as possible. 
If a small portion of the powder contained in one of 
the rust colored pustules on a leaf be examined under 
tEe microscope it is found to consist of myriads of pale 
brown, minutely warted, roundish cells or spores, each 
of which is capable of germinating the moment it is 
mature. When the disease has once appeared its spread 
is rapid. The spores are produced in rapid succession; 
as fast as they become ripe they fall and are carried 
by wind, watering, syringing or even upon the clothes 
of the grower from one plant to another. Every spore 
that happens to alight upon the surface of a damp 
Chrysanthemum leaf germinates quickly, pierces the 



INSECT PESTS AND DISEASES 131 

tissues of the leaf, and in about one week's time pro- 
duces another crop of ripe spores ready ta continue the 
work of extending the disease. This explains the 
rapid manner in which the disease spreads during the 
uredo stage. 

"Later in the season, when the grower has lost all 
interest in the diseased plants, the same mycelium of 
the fungus which, during the earlier part of the season, 
has been producing myriads of summer spores, now 
gives origin to an entirely different form of fruit called 
'teleutospores,' or winter spores. These differ in- form 
from the uredo or summer spores in being formed of 
two cells, and more especially in the fact that the 
winter spores will not germinate and grow until after 
a period of rest. They remain in a quiescent state 
until the following spring, when they germinate and 
produce minute spores, some of which find their way 
on to the Chrysanthemum leaves, germinate, enter the 
tissues of the leaf and in a short time give origin to 
the uredo or summer condition of the fungus. The 
continuance of the disease, therefore, is entirely the 
result of plants becoming inoculated by the resting 
spores produced by the fungus the previous year. Too 
much care cannot be exercised in collecting and burning 
all diseased leaves. A single dead leaf bearing teleuto- 
spores is more than sufficient to secure a crop the fol- 
lowing season. Potassium sulphide is an excellent 
preventive, as this solution destroys germinating spores 
before they pierce the cuticle and enter the tissues of 
the leaV^ 

Professor Arthur of the Indiana Experiment 
Station says : "A circumstance much in the cultiva- 
tor's favor is the propagation of the disease without the 
formation of the teleutospores. Not only does this 
render the disease far less persistent, but, without doubt, 



132 THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 

indicates that it is less vigorous in its attacks. In 
general, when a rust is confined to the uredo forms 
-fo¥ a number of generations, its vitality is much reduced 
and also its power of injuring the crops/^ 

This probabl}^ explains the reason why growers 
have been able to gain the upper hand, as by prompt 
attack and by timely removal of diseased parts, they 
have, in large degree, prevented the reaching of the 
teleutospore stage. From the foregoing will be appar- 
ent to those who grow Chrysanthemums in the open air 
the desirability of not again planting Chrysanthemums 
upon the same spot for twa or three years if they have 
been attacked with rust, since the teleutospores are 
almost sure to be present in the ground. 

Leaf Spot is the name commonly given to another 
disease undoubtedly of a fungous character, and one 
hard to combat when it makes its appearance. Pre- 
vention, however, is easily possible, as it is a condition 
of ill health arising almost wholly from causes over 
which the grower has control. Its appearance is de- 
noted by small spots or patches of a brownish or black 
color which quickly spread, and are so rapidly conta- 
gious that a continuance of conditions congenial to its 
growth will soon result in its spreading furiously till 
the plants are completely denuded of leaves. They 
quickly die and dry up when once infected. This dis- 
ease is engendered by overcrowding and consequent 
inability of the air to circulate freely among the 
plants. Spraying with sulphide of potassium or with 
Bordeaux mixture may be resorted to, but these reme- 
dies are only slightly deterrent; the only effectual way 
is to correct the conditions that give riser to the attack. 
For example, leaf spot used to cause some trouble 
in some benches of Chrysanthemums that were six feet 
in width, and the initial attack always began upon the 



INSECT PESTS AND DISEASES 133 

plants in the center of the bench. Individually, the 
plants were not too close, but about the time they at- 
tained to the maximum of growth, those in the center 
were naturally confined and little air reached them, 
except overhead. After the benches were reduced in 
Avidth to four feet the trouble did not reappear, clearly 
showing the disease was brought on by congestion and 
an inability of the leaves of the plants in the inner 
rows to properly perform their functions. The remedy 
lies, therefore, in a studied avoidance of anything that 
will tend to overcrowd or prevent a free circulation 
of air among the plants in all stages of growth. 

Stem Rot is another fungous trouble, and, as the 
name denotes, the rotting of the stem brings about the 
death of the plants. Its attack is denoted by a droop- 
ing of the leaves of the entire plant as though it 
needed water. In reality, the plant does need water, 
but is unable to take it up through the usual channels, 
which have become filled up by the growth of a fungus 
so that water cannot pass up to sustain the plant. 
Eventually the cells of the plant tissue become filled 
with fungous growth, and death soon ensues. An ex- 
amination of an affected plant will show at, or just 
above the ground line, a white mold encircling the 
stem, but the source of the first attack is in the soil. 
With the decay of the stem and the maturity of the 
fungous growth, spores are formed which again germi- 
nate and grow, if a suitable medium be at hand. Little 
can be done to combat an attack, but it is most desirable 
to destroy all plants affected, and especially not to use 
the soil for a similar crop, as that is the source of 
infection. The use of rank manure in making the 
compost may bring on an attack of stem rot, as decaying 
vegetable matter is usually full of this type of fungus. 
Plants growing in the open ground, and previously 



134 THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 

healthy, have become badly infected with stem rot 
apparently through the surface of the ground having 
been mulched with comparatively fresh stable manure. 
Lime is a good corrective, freely mixed in the soil, but 
safety lies only in avoiding the conditions known to 
favor the development of the disease. 

Mildew sometimes manifests itself. It needs no 
description, as almost everyone is familiar with the white, 
powdery mold upon the leaves denoting tlie presence 
of this fungus. A check to the plants, an excess of 
atmospheric moisture, or too low a temj)erature, are the 
most common causes of its attack. Xo time should be 
lost in the application of remedies, as if allowed to 
go uncliecked for a few days it spreads rapidly over 
the foliage, to its great detriment. Sulphur applied 
direct, or painted upon the heating pipes, is the usual 
remedy, but the sulphide of jDotassium, as before recom- 
mended, is also a very good antidote. 

Although fungous diseases have been treated at 
some length, the grower should ever bear in^ mind the 
fact that they are all conditional; that the Chrysan- 
themum is naturally a healthy, easih' grown plant. 
Insect pests we cannot a.void, but must studiously keep 
under control. All efforts, however, along the lines of 
proper cultivation resulting in vigorous, healthy stock, 
are preventive measures of the best kind, and, in the 
main, carry with them a more or less complete immu- 
nity from disease. 



CHAPTER XIX 

Classification and Selection of Varieties for Special 
Purposes 

Many years of cultivation and the subsequent de- 
velopment of divergent types, with variations so marked 
and, in some cases, so peculiar as to make it difficult of 
belief that all had their origin in single-flowered, daisy- 
like ancestors, have led to the necessity for, and the 
adoption of, certain methods of classification. The 
basis of such classification has been to gather together 
in groups, or classes, varieties having more or less of 
resemblance in form or type of flower. The manner 
in which these divergent forms sprang up and gave 
birth, as it were, to the varying types that now charac- 
terize the present day Chrysanthemum, is thus described 
by that eminent botanist, the Eev. G. Henslow: 

"The transformations in the corolla are brought 
about by the two principles of hypertrophy and atrophy, 
both conspiring to effect the remarkable changes. Thus 
while the corolla enlarges, to change from a five-toothed 
minute disc-floret into a broad, flat-petaled ray-floret, 
two petals are gradually dwarfed and finally disappear, 
while a corresponding atrophy takes place in the essen- 
tial organs, for the stamens are totally arrested and 
tlie pistil changes its form — the style-arms becoming 
much reduced in size. The tubular condition of the 
corolla may remain while the tube itself elongates 
without any, or much, splitting; hence the quilled or 
tasseled forms are arrived at, both representing a more 
or less arrested stage in the process of change into 



136 



THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 





^ 




1 


^BWH^^^^^Bi^^^Bi iM^^^fe'^illi'^ ^ ^ 


i 


^^^^ 


i 


■^ui 


1 



Fio-. 28 — CHRYSANTHEMUM CHELTONI 

ray-florets. The ligiilate petal ma}^ be broad, which 
gives rise to the incurved or recurved ball-like forms; 
or it may be greatly elongated and narrow — whence 



CLASSIFICATION AND SELECTION 



137 




Fig. 29 — CHRYSANTHEMUM SOLEIL d'OCTOBRE 

come the Japanese linear-petal ed forms. Again, it may 
be expanded at the mouth or tip and the teeth multi- 
plied, giving rise to the trumpet-like, so-called Dragon 



3 

CO 

o 
I 
I 

o 

W 

H 

d 




CLASSIFICATION AXD SELECTION 



139 




ol — cm 



{YSANTHEMUM MRS. HENRY ROBINSON 



Chrysanthemums. Lastly, if the disc-florets enlarge, 
but remain more or less tubular, while the ray-florets 



140 THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 

retain their distinctive character, the Anemone form 
of Chrj'santhemum is secured." 

Present day classification, therefore, is based upon 
the peculiarities of petalage and the distinctive forms 
they give to the flower, all of which seem simple 
enough. It would be, were all the peculiarities mark- 
edly defined, but there at once confront us varieties 
of intermediate type with characteristics pertaining 
to more than one class, and with this conies the dif- 
ficulty of making the classes absolute and defining 
where these intermediate typos strictly belong — a con- 
dition that will always continue by reason of the" 
inherent variability of the flower. In American gar- 
dens the Japanese types largely predominate; in fact, 
to the almost entire exclusion of other interesting and 
hardly less beautiful types which, Avith European grow- 
ers, find considerable favor and give the charm of 
variety to their displays and exhibitions. 

The classification as adopted and observed by the 
Xational Chrysanthemum Society of England is fol- 
lowed here, with a citation of the distinguishing char- 
acteristics of form and petalage constituting the basis 
of arrangement. 

Section 1. — Incurved varieties. 

These are also sometimes called Chinese varieties. 
The class has never found the favor, nor attained the 
prominence here that it has with European growers. 
Substantial prize offers at some of the leading exhi- 
bitions have also failed to bring out any good repre- 
sentation of the class. The varieties placed in this 
class all have strap-shaped florets or petals which curve 
regularly inward, forming a more or less solid bloom 
of even outline and almost spherical. Any irregularit}^ 
of form or failure to develop to a high, perfect, well- 



CLASSIFICATION AND SELECTION 141 

filled center is considered a defect. In all probability 
the formal stiffness characterizing the type has militated 
against its popularity in America, but the class is 
always well rej^resented at the English exhibitions. 
One variety, however, belonging in this class that at- 
tained great prominence, both as an exhibition and a 
commercial flower, is Major Bonnaffon. Other examples 
are: Empress of India, Lord Alcester, W. Higgs, 
Charles Curtis, Golden Empress, Lady Isabel, Mrs. 
H. J. Jones, Mrs. W. Higgs and Mme. Lucie Faure. 

Section 2. — Japanese varieties. 

The progenitors of this class were regarded with 
disfavor when first introduced from the Orient, on 
account of their loose, ragged form, but the evolution 
of the type has given us a great class which, more than 
any other, has won for the Chrysanthemum its present 
day popularity. 

The characteristics of the class are large flowers, 
having, sometimes, long petals loosely arranged and 
intertwined into a high globular flower, as in Cheltoni 
(Fig. 28) or Ben Wells. In other varieties the petals 
are long, broad, reflexed and dependent, as in F. S. 
Vallis or Soleil d'Octobre (Fig. 29), and again there 
are varieties of great size whose petals incurve, building 
up an enormous symmetrical flower, as in Wm. Duck- 
ham (Fig. 30), and still others that neither fully 
incurve nor reflex, except in slight degree, the shorter 
petals being mostly erect with slight curvature at the 
tips, as in Timothy Eaton and Mrs. Henry Eobinson 
(Fig. 31). Everything of great size, in consequence, 
goes into the Japanese class, and such variability of 
form is found there as to make classification by form 
difficult. It has been, in a measure, simplified, by 
creating two classes out of the Japanese, one of which is 



142 THE CHRYSAXTHEMUM 

Section 3. — Japanese incurved. 

All the varieties partaking of the incurved form 
belong here. A typical selection would include W. 
Duckham, Col. D. Appleton, Marie Liger, Mrs. G. 
Mileham, Lady Hopetown, Merza, Mrs. Jerome Jones 
and Miss Alice B^Ton. 

Section 4. — Japanese reflexed. 

Under this classification come all varieties whose 
petals turn hack horizontally and droop downward 
toward the stem, as typified by F. S. Vallis, Mrs. 
Coombes, Mrs. T. \\. Pockett, Leila Filkins, Harrison 
Dick, Mrs. W. Duckham, Dora Stevens, Lord Salisbury 
and many others. Such variable form exists, however, 
that classification can only partially define the charac- 
teristics of the class as a whole. For example, the 
introduction of the variety Mrs. Alpheus Hardy, some 
years ago, a Chrysanthemum having numerous hair- 
like growths upon the petals, led to the formation of a 

Hairy Section. — The class has not attained special 
prominence, however, but these peculiar varieties find 
favor with some who admire their quaint, bearded 
beauty. The best are : F. J. Taggart, Louis Boehmer, 
L'Enfant des Deux Mondes, Leocadie Gentils, R. M. 
Grey and Queen of Plumes. 

Section 5. — lie flexed. 

Tlie varieties constituting this class are kindred 
to, but exactly opposite to those in Section 1. The 
flowers are of medium size, full and high, with the 
petals all recurving outward from center to base of 
flower. The class embraces some of the oldest kinds 
in cultivation, does not command much attention, and 



CLASSIFICATION AND SELECTION 143 

new additions are rarely made to it. Cullingfordi, Dr. 
Sharpe, Christine, Julia Lagravere, Emperor of China 
and the old, sweet-violet-scented Progne are examples 
that may be found today in gardens in England where 
they have been grown for nearly half a century. 

Section 6. — Large Anemone varieties. 

These are distinguished by having broad strap- 
shaped ray-florets that stand out horizontally, forming, 
as it were, a collar to the center of the flower, which 
is formed of numerous tiny disc-florets closel}^ arranged 
in a semi-spherical, cushion-like center. A few of the 
best are : Acquisition, Fleure de Marie, Gladys Spauld- 
ing, Gluck, Miss Annie Low, Mrs. C. J. Salter, Garza 
and Thorpe, Jr. 

Section 7. — Japanese Anemones. 

The varieties classified under this head have the 
same closely-quilled center as those in the preceding 
class, but the flowers are often of great size, and the 
outer fringe of ray-petals shows much variability in 
form, length, disposition and arrangement. They may 
appear as long drooping threads hanging down several 
inches, or be broad and curiously twisted ; in fact, there 
are in this class some quaintly pretty kinds. Typical 
examples are Beauty of Eynsford, Caledonia, Halcyon, 
James Weston, Lady Temple, Marcia Jones and Zoraida. 

Section 8. — Pompon varieties. 

These are undoubtedly pure lineal descendants 
from the Chusan Daisies of our forefathers, having the 
same dwarf habit of growth, with small leaves and tiny 
flowers from one to two inches in width. Interest in 



144 



THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 




Fig. 32 — THE '^BABY^' CHRYSANTHEMUM (ROBERT 
CRAIG) 



them has in great part been sustained by reason of 
their hardiness, so that they can be cultivated in the 
open ground. The flowers of Pompons vary from flat 
to spherical, having short, erect or reflexing petals. 



CLASSIFICATION AND SELECTION 145 

which, in some varieties, are prettily fringed or toothed 
at their tips. A great number of varieties exist, of 
which the following are typical : Alena, Daze. Onita, 
Vera, La Purite, Globe d'Or, Dawn, Little Pet and 
Baby (Fig. 32). 

Section 9. — Pompon-Anemones 

These, as the name indicates, are varieties having 
quilled florets in the center and an outer ray of fiat 
petals surrounding. The class includes some very 
pretty kinds, as Astarte, Briolas, Perle, Grace Darling, 
Mr, Astie and Marie Stuart. 

Section 10. — Single-flowered varieties 

These have Daisy-like flowers, a row, or, in some 
cases, two rows, of petals surrounding the central disc. 
This large and beautiful class has been unaccount- 
ably neglected in this country, for beyond one or 
two varieties of the Mizpah type, a single Chrysan- 
themum is rarely seen. xA.n English list at hand offers 
no less than 150 distinct varieties, so there is no dearth 
of choice. There should be great possibilities in this 
class for those who have gardens in the South and 
Far West. Some of these singles have very large 
flowers of bright colors and exceeding beauty. A few 
good ones are : Beautiful Star, Daisy, Earls wood 
Beauty, Ellen Smales, Golden Gem, Ladysmith, Miss 
Mary Anderson and Oldfield Glory. 

Section 11. — Spidery, Plumed, Feathery and 
Fantastic varieties 

A class, as the name would suggest, embracing a 
number of oddities that originate from time to time. 



146 THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 

and in it are some graceful, pretty things, as Golden' 
Thread, Golden Shower, Little Jewel, King of Plumes, 
Mrs. Filkins and What-Ho. 

SOME SELECTIONS FOR SPECIAL PURPOSES 

The following selections have been made as repre- 
senting the best varieties of the present to grow for 
the purposes indicated. It should be borne in mind, 
however, that the merit is tentative only, as the yearly 
acquisition of new varieties might create the necessity 
for a considerable revision a year or two hence, and 
almost the entire selection may become obsolete within 
a decade. The one substantial ground of desirability, 
however, is found in the interest that may accrue from 
these selections in the future, Avhen they will serve as 
a record of what was considered most meritorious at 
the time of their compilation. 

EXHIBITION FLOWERS — PROVED STANDARD KINDS 

White. — Mrs. H. Eobinson, Merza, . Ben Wells, 
Nellie Pockett, Mme. Douillet, Guy Hamilton, Timothy 
Eaton, Mme. Carnot. 

Yellow.— ¥. S. Vallis, Mrs. E. Thirkell, Cheltoni, 
Col. D. Appleton, Bessie Godfrey, Yellow Eaton, Mrs. 
W. Mease, Golden Wedding. 

Pinl: — W. Duckham, Mrs. Geo. Mileham, W. A. 
Etherington, Leila Filkins, F. A. Cobbold, Lady 
Hopetoun. 

Crimson. — S. T. Wright, Maynell, H. J. Jones, 
Lady Eoberts. 

Varicolored varieties. — W. E. Church, John Fraser, 
Mary Inglis, Lord Salisbury, Lohengrin, Harrison Dick, 
General Hutton, T. Carrington, Ethel Fitzroy, Eustique. 



CLASSIFICATION AND SELECTION 147 

VARIETIES FOR SPECIMEN PLANTS 
BUSH OR STANDARD 

White. — Ivory, Mutual Friend, Mrs. J. E. Tranter, 
Mrs. H. Weeks, Mrs. F. A. Constable. 

Pinl'. — Arethusa, A. J. Balfour, Louis Boelimer, 
Pink Ivory, Dr. EngueharcL Mrs. J. G. Breer, 
Yanariva. 

Red. — Black Hawk, John Shrimpton, Shilowa, 
The Bard, Eed Warrior. 

Yellow. — Mrs. E. Hooper Pearson, Col. D. Ap- 
pleton, Peter Kay, Eoljert Halliday, Georgiana Pitcher. 

Varicolored. — Casco, dark garnet; Millicent Eich- 
ardson, claret ; Kate Broomhead, bronze ; Charles Davis, 
light bronze; Lady Hanham, cerise pink. 

Anemone-flowered. — Halcyon, white; Garza, white; 
Surprise, pink ; Eed Eobin, red ; Thorpe Jr., yellow. 

Pompons. — Angelique, white ; Orea, pink : Elko, 
magenta; Julia, straAvberry red; Savannah, yellow. 

SOME OF THE BEST VARIETIES FOR SIXGLE-STEM PLANTS 
IN SIX-INCH POTS 

White. — xllice Byron, ]\Ierza, Mutual Friend, Mrs. 
J. E. Tranter, Nellie Pockett, Ben Wells, Mrs. H. 
Eobinson. 

I>//o«'.— Cheltoni, Col. D. Appleton, F. S. Vallis, 
V. J. Salter, Goldmine, Matthew Smith, Percy Plum- 
ridge, Mrs T. W. Pockett, Major Bonnaffon. 

Pinh. — W. Duckham, Brighthurst, Leila Filkins. 
Dr. Enguehard, F. A. Cobbold, A. J. Balfour, Yiviand 
Morel. 

Varicolored. — Donald ]\IcLeod, Harrison Dick, 
W. E. Church, Brutus, Kate Broomhead, Henry the 
Second, T. Carrington. 



148 THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 

VARIETIES FOR COMMERCIAL CUT FLOWER CULTURE, 
LISTED IN THE ORDER OF THEIR FLOWERING 

White. — Mme. Bergman, Polly Rose, Miss Alice 
Byron, Mrs. H. Robinson, Mrs. H. W. Buekbee, Tim- 
othy Eaton, W. H. Chadwick, Merry Christmas. 

Yellow. — Monrovia, Soleil d'Octobre, R. Halliday, 
Col. D. Appleton, Major Bonnaffon, Yellow Eaton, 
Golden Wedding, Yellow Chadwick. 

PinTc. — Glory of the Pacific, Mrs. Coombes, W. 
Duckham, Dr. Enguehard, Marie Liger, Maud Dean, 
John Burton. 

Bronze. — Ethel Fitzroy, Donald McLeod, Harrison 
Dick, Kate Broomhead, Mounier. 

Crimson. — J. Shrimpton, Lord Hopetoun, S. T. 
Wright, W. R. Church. 

SOME PROMISING NEW VARIETIES 

White.— Kmily Mileham, Mrs. D. V. West, White 
Coombes, Beatrice May. Melle Anna Debono, Clemen- 
tine Touset, Mme. Jeannie ^onin, Mrs. Swinburne. 

Yellow. — Merstham Yellow, Mrs. W. Duckham, 
Alliance, Mrs. M. J. D'Arcy, Roi d'ltalie, Reveil de 
Begle. 

Pinh. — Mrs H. A. Allen, Valerie Greenham, 
Brighthurst. 

Crimson. — J. H. Silsbury, Henry Perkins, Mers- 
tham Red. 

Varicolored— J. H. Doyle, Mrs. A. J. Miller, Dora 
Stevens, Souvenir de Calvat Pere. 



CHAPTER XX 

History of the Chrysanthemum 

The early history of the Chrysanthemum collected 
and compiled by Professor F. W. Burbidge of Dublin, 
is recognized as the most concise and correct treatise 
on the subject known. From this work the following 
is condensed: 

Of all flowers, that which has been said to repre- 
sent '^cheerfulness under adversity"- — the Chrysanthe- 
mum, or "Golden Flower" of the Greek — may fairly 
be called the "Queen of Autumn." Six varieties 
were described by Breynius as being cultivated in 
Holland two centuries ago. Originally introduced to 
England from the Celestial Empire in 1754, it seems 
first to have been cultivated by that celebrated gardener. 
Miller of Chelsea, but was soon afterward lost by some 
unfortunate accident. Again introduced, this time by 
way of Marseilles in 1789, it reached London in 1795, 
and in Curtis's "Botanical Magazine" for 1796 we find 
a colored figure of Chrysanthemum Sinense (there de- 
scribed under the name C. Indicum), the result of the 
second advent. Phillips, in his "Flora Historica," pub- 
lished in 1824, tells us that the new plant was sold at 
a high price soon after its introduction, but it was not 
until the beginning of the nineteenth century that it 
attracted attention as a florist's flower. "Then," says 
he, "like the Roses of China, Chrysanthemums soon 
escaped from the conservatories of the curious, and as 
rapidly spread themselves over every part of the island, 
filling the windows of the cottagers and the parterres 



150 THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 

of the opulent with their autumnal beauties, that now 
vie with the China Aster in variety of color glory." 

Among other peculiar modes of culture resorted to 
by Chinese gardeners in Chrysanthemum culture is the 
engrafting of cuttings on to a strong-growing species 
of Artemisia (.4. Indica) as a stock. The idea of 
grafting is suggestive, as some of the more delicate 
rooting kinds might be grown by being grafted or 
inarched upon rooted cuttings or sucker stocks of a 
robust, strong-rooting character. Some may think this 
idea impracticable, but Chinese gardeners rarely take 
an}^ special trouble in plant culture without a sound 
reason for so doing. One reason why grafting might 
be useful is that by its means new sports might, in all 
probability, be obtained. Fortune tells us of the beauty 
of the Chrysanthemum in oriental gardens, and how 
banks of gorgeous blooms are illuminated at night 
with lanterns, and even gigantic effigies are made up 
entirely of their lovely flowers. 

The first Chrysanthemum that ever flowered in 
England bloomed in Colville's nursery, in the King's 
Eoad, Chelsea, in 1795, the plant having been obtained 
originally from M. Cels, the celebrated nurseryman of 
Paris. At this time, and for -some little time afterward, 
botanists could not agree as to its botanical position; 
some of them contended that it was one of the 
Camomiles (AntJiemis) , while others declared that it 
was unmistakably a Pyrethrum or Feverfew, but at last 
it was decided that it should be called Chrysanthemum, 
from "chrysos," gold or golden, and "antlios," a flower. 
Sabine, who was Secretary to the Horticultural Society 
at the beginning of the present century, says, however, 
that Chrysanthemums had been grown in Holland 
nearly as far back as the year 1688 ; but, singular to say, 
in 1821, no gardener in Holland knew anything of 



HISTORY OF THE CHPtYSANTHEMUM 151 

them. In 1808 their cultivation had increased to some 
nine or ten varieties^ and it went on increasing, many 
varieties being collected for the Eoyal Horticultural 
Society in China and Bengal in 1821 by' Mr. Parks. 
At the end of 1825 the number of varieties seems to 
have been increased to forty-eight, and in 1826 Sabine 
writes most cheerily concerning their rapid progress, 
and of an astounding large exhibition of them being 
held in the society's garden at Chiswick, in which were 
shown over 700 plants in pots. 

ORIGIN OF THE POMPONS 

In 1845 the late Mr. Eobert Fortune, who was sent 
to China in 1842 by the Eoyal Horticultural Society, 
brought home with him from Chusan (an island on the 
east coast of China) a semi-double, reddish or light 
brown, small Chrysanthemum, which was called the 
Chusan Daisy. The Horticultural Society propagated it, 
and sent it out among its members. From some of these 
members it was sent to M. Lebois, a perfect enthusiast 
in Chrysanthemum growing, in Paris. He seeded it, 
the autumns of France being more favorable to that 
operation than the cold, foggy ones of England, and 
from this seed he raised a great many good varieties, 
which came into the hands of Mr. Salter, late of the 
Versailles Nurseries, Hammersmith, who, in his day, 
did more to popularize Chrysanthemums in England 
than any other man. This is the generally received 
history of the Pompon varieties of Chrysanthemum, 
though the names given to them as far back as 1821 
and 1825, Park's Small Yellow, Blush Eanunculus, 
etc., for instance, show that there were small varieties 
grown then; indeed, in the Horticultural Society^s 
Transactions for February, 1821, there are colored 
plates of small, man3^-petaled varieties, but they were 



152 THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 

not called Pompons until the French got hold of them 
in 1845-6. 

In 1846 a new era commenced in the history of 
the Chrysanthemum, for at that time Mr. Fortune 
brought from China two small flowering varieties of 
the "Chusan Daisy." From these two varieties have 
sprung all the Pompons now in cultivation. The 
French growers gave them this name, Pompon, from 
the resemblance of the flower to the tuft or pompon 
on the soldiers' caps. 

Japanese Kinds. — These were brought over by Mr. 
Fortune on a second visit to Japan about the year 
1859 or 1860. The precise date is uncertain, but at 
least one variety was figured in the Botanical Magazine 
as somewhat of a novelty in 1863, so it must be about 
the time mentioned that they were introduced. The 
French and Guernsey growers soon got hold of them 
and improved them immensely. 

Show Chrysanthemums. — In 1850 we find the 
Chrysanthemum taking rank as a winter exhibition 
plant at the meetings of the Caledonian Horticultural 
Society, which at that time held its shows in what is 
now the Eoyal Botanical Gardens, Inverlieth. Here 
we are told that Chrysanthemums were the principal 
flowers exhibited. 

It is interesting to find that the Siamese have 
adopted the Chrysanthemum as their national emblem. 
Breynius in 1689 described it as Matricaria Japonica 
maxima, from which name we may infer that the 
earliest known large flowering kinds came originally 
from Japan, especially so as he speaks of yellow, white, 
blush, purple, rose and crimson varieties. Linnaeus 
in 1753 referred to two species, C. Sinense, with large 
white flowers, and C. Ijidicum, with very small yellow 
blossoms, both double and single. The Dutch florists 



HISTORY OF THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 153 

seem to have been the first to cultivate C Indicum 
(Pompon), which had found its way to Amboyna and 
Malabar. Eheede figures it as early as 1699. Kaempfer 
noticed it in 1712, and Thunberg describes it (also as 
Matricaria) in 1784. 

Mr. Fortune told us long ago that the Chinese 
made life-sized images of their blossoms, but who would 
suspect the "moon-faced celestial" of liquor. And yet 
we are told that "in China a liquor is distilled from 
the flowers of the Chrysanthemum, which is re- 
garded as an elixir-vitae, and in the Chinese phar- 
macopoeia a powder of the flowers or florets dried is 
prescribed as a cure for drunkenness." 

Large-fioic erect Chrysanthemums. — The credit of 
introducing the first living plants of the large-flowered 
or C. Sinense race (1789) belongs to M. Blanchard, 
an enterprising merchant of Marseilles. The consign- 
ment consisted of three varieties, white, violet and 
purple, the latter only reaching him alive. This 
variety is so well figured in the Botanical Magazine, 
t. 327, that we have no doubt as to its identity. It was 
not the wild type, but 'one of the many semi-double 
forms at that time cultivated in Chinese gardens. 
Tliis kind caused such a sensation that Sir A. Hume 
and Mr. John Eecves (tea buyers for the then opulent 
East India Company) turned their attention to intro- 
ducing other Chinese varieties. 

In 1830 seedlings were first raised in France, the 
produce being remarkable for variability, much to the 
delight of the amateurs of Toulouse and Avignon, who 
now began to christen their seedlings after their 
national celebrities. 

The first English seedlings were raised in or about 
1830 by Mr. Isaac Wheeler, gardener and porter at 
Magdalen Hall (now Hertford College), Oxford. 



15-1: THE CHRYSAXTHEMUM 

These he reared from home-saved seeds at Beaumont 
Buildings, in that city, and on December 2, 1832, he 
exhibited some of his seedlings in London, and received 
a silver Banksian medal for them as the earliest seedling 
Chrysanthemums raised in England. 

About 1836 seedling Chrysanthemums were pro- 
duced in the Channel Islands for the first time, and a 
great improvement began to be effected among large- 
flowered varieties. Many of these early Channel Island 
varieties were obtained by ^Ir. Chandler, then of the 
Yauxhall Nursery. In 1838 Mr. Salter settled at Ver- 
sailles, and, finding the climate suitable, imported 
many of the best known varieties from England, and 
set about their further improvement. In 1840 his 
collection of English, French and Jersey seedlings 
amounted to between 300 and 400 distinct kinds. In 
1843 seedlings began to be raised in the nursery at 
Versailles. 

The first public Chrj-santhemum show for cut 
1) looms was held at Stoke Newington in 1846. To Mr. 
Fortune, as has been stated, we are indebted for the 
original Pompon from China, namely, the Chusan 
Daisy, introduced in 1846, and thence dates a new era 
in Chrysanthemum culture so far as this section goes. 
In the "Gardeners Magazine of Botany" for 1850 we 
find many varieties of these French Daisy kinds de- 
scribed, and four sorts are represented in a colored 
plate. 

Modern Japanese Varieties. — Both the large-flow- 
ered and Pompon varieties were largely grown and 
much improved up to 1862, when again Mr. Fortune 
introduced a new strain in the shape of seven varieties 
from Japan. So singular were these in shape and 
color from all reputed standards of perfection at the 
time, that they barely escaped total neglect, and conse- 



HISTORY OF THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 155 

quent extinction. At the present day, however, these 
once neglected kinds stand in the first rank as decora- 
tive plants, and finer and still finer varieties make their 
appearance every year. Mr. Salter, in 1865, lamented 
that some of the best original Chinese tasseled kinds 
were wholly lost. Of those then grown, however, he 
mentions Golden Lotus, Quilled Pink, Tasseled White, 
Tasseled Yellow, Two-colored Incurved, and Yellow 
Waratah. Where are these kinds now ? Lost, no doubt, 
in, the race after novelty. One Japanese kind which 
Mr. Salter tried to bring home was unfortunately lost 
on the way. This had its florets edged very beautifully 
with a hair-like fringe. Writing from a florist's point 
of view in 1S65, Mr. Salter says: "The form of the 
flower has become so beautiful that it seems scarcely 
possible any amount of cultivation can improve it, but 
both size and color may be augmented." 

Now we have, however, form more perfect, colors 
more vivid, and size considerably augmented by im- 
proved methods of culture, if not also by actual seminal 
variation. In the modern Japanese varieties we have 
form and color of the most beautiful, and also another 
valuable quality, many of them blooming a month 
later than the other kinds, and so we can extend the 
Chrysanthemum season by their aid. 

A blue Rose may be an impossibility, but we are 
told that a variety of the Chrysanthemum exists in 
Japan with blue flowers. It is represented very fre- 
quently on Japanese porcelain, both ancient and modern, 
especially that of Satsuma and Kioto; it also appears on 
cloisonne enamels and embroidery. In the "History 
of Nin-toku-ten-wau" the following passage occurs: 
"In 386, in the seventy-third year of his reign, seeds 
of the Chrysanthemum were first introduced into Japan 
from a foreign country, both blue, yellow, red, white 



156 THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 

and violet." The Japanese commentator remarks: 
"By a foreign country is meant the kingdom of Paik- 
tse, one of the States of Corea." In the palace of the 
Mikado, at Kioto, is an apartment decorated entirely 
with paintings and carvings representing this popular 
Japanese flower. 

AMERICAN HISTORY OF THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 

There is no authentic record, in fact, not even a 
tradition as to whom we are indebted for the first intro- 
duction of the Chrysanthemum to America, yet it must 
have been brought, or sent, to this country quite early 
in the last century. 

The New England Farmer of November 2G, 1830, 
reports on some Chrysanthemums exhibited before the 
Massachusetts Horticultural Society by its recording 
secretary, R. L. Emmons, on November 20, and gives a 
list of varieties, as for example : Tasseled White, Park's 
Small Yellow, Quilled Lilac, Quilled White, Golden 
Lotus and others, and from the similarity of the names 
to those already mentioned in the English collections, 
their origin is clearly indicated. 

The late Peter Henderson was the first to intro- 
duce into this country, direct from Japan, some of the 
best varieties known at that time, 18G3, which were on 
exhibition in New York and Philadeli^hia in 1864. A 
notice in the Gardeners Monthly, January, 1865, as a 
footnote to a very interesting article on Chrysanthe- 
mums by "Pufus," is as follows: 

"Peter Henderson has three superb ones from 
Japan, very distinct from the common forms, and which 
will have an immense run. Grandiflorum is very large, 
with peculiar strap shaped petals, golden yellow and 
very double. Lacmiatum beautifully fringed, magnifi- 



HISTORY OF THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 157 

cent, a great favorite with the ladies. (This is illus- 
trated in the number of the Gardeners Monthly re- 
ferred to.) Japonicum has remarkably twilled petals 
orange and brown, and standing erect, while the whole 
flower nods, making it look precisely like a rich tassel." 

By those introductions, Peter Henderson kindled 
the flame which, fanned by John Thorpe and other 
enthusiasts, gave the first impetus to Chrysanthemum 
culture in America. We have no evidence, however, of 
any attempt to improve the flower till comparatively 
recent times, and here again Boston leads the way. To 
Dr. H. P. Walcott of Cambridge, Massachusetts, belongs 
the honor of first raising new Chrysanthemums from 
seed which was ripened in his own garden. His first 
seedlings were exhibited before the Massachusetts Hort- 
icultural Society at Boston during the autumn of 1879. 
In subsequent years he raised great numbers, many of 
considerable merit, and which were distributed by the 
firm of Pitcher & Manda of Short Hills, New Jersey ; a 
firm, by the way, that, in addition to distributing and 
importing new kinds, also raised many good ones, and 
in other ways did much that enhanced the popularity of 
the Clirysanthemum in America. 

Mr. John Thorpe, in association with V. H. 
Hallock & Sons of Queens, New York, was one of the 
pioneer workers, as were also the firm of Edwin Fewkes 
& Son of Newton Highlands, Massachusetts, W. K. 
Harris, E. Craig and H. Waterer, all of Philadelphia, 
and T. H. Spaulding of Orange, New Jersey. 

The chief xlmerican raisers of today are The E. G 
Hill Co., Richmond, Indiana : Nathan Smith & Son, 
Adrian, Michigan, and J. N. May, Summit, New Jersey. 

There is also the Chrysanthemum Society of 
America, organized in 1890 to promote the advance- 
ment of the flower for which it stands. Its publica- 



158 THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 

tions will put on permanent record the doings of our 
day and time. Especially valuable is its last report 
containing a list of nearly 3000 varieties of Chrysanthe- 
mums with name of raiser and introducer ; if imported, 
with date of introduction, and of distribution. Besides 
this, committees of the society pass judgment upon new 
varieties submitted, and, if worthy, award certificates 
to the same. In short, the society is working on 
broad, general lines for the common good of all inter- 
ested, and making history that future generations will 
justly appreciate. 



INDEX 



Air 



Aphis 122 

Australian chrysanthemums.. 117 
Benches 14 

Width of 15 

Blooms, boxes for 60 

Packing the 60 

Bone 51 

Boxes 14 

Break, first, second and third 29 



PAGE PAGE 

15, 22, 75, 99 Composts 8, 11, 73, 82, 88 

Corythuca, Gossypii 116,127 

Culture, commercial 87 

For exhibition 3 

Cutting-s 4,82, 88 

Insertion of 6 

Selection of 6 

Temperature for 7 

Damping 55 

Diseases 122 



Bud, taking the 27, 35, 84, 90 pi vision Ill 

Buds, care of the 54 Exhibiting 



Crown 27, 31, 36 

Crown, objections to 40 

First crown 30 

Second crown 29, 33 

Terminal 27, 32 

Timing 38 

Bugs 126 

Caterpillars 124, 127 

Chrysanthemums, 
Anemone varieties 143 



Preparation for 59 

Evaporation 23 

Feeding 42, 75, 90 

Fertilizer, chemical 47 

Liquid 46 

Flowers, boxes for 60 

Packing for exhibition 59 

Staging the 63 

Fly, black and green 122 

Fungous diseases 128 

Australian 117JGrasshoppers 124 

Classification 135 History 1, 49 

Commercial types 92|Hybridizing 96 

For bedding 110 Insects 122 

For special purposes 135, 146 Introduction 1 

Hairy 142 Iron 50 

Hardy 105 Judging 58 

History of the 149 Leaf spot 132 

Hybridizing 96|Lime 50 

Incurved 140|Manures 43, 84 

Japanese 141 Choice of 47 

Japanese incurved 142 Mildew 134 



Japanese reflexed 142 

Miniature 85 

Miscellaneous varieties 145 

Plants in six-inch pots 81 

Pompons 107, 143 

Pompon anemones 145jPests 

Pot plants 93, 110 Phosphoric acid 



Mulching 43 

Nitrate of potash 50 

Of soda 49 

Nitrogen 49 

Overfeeding 52 ' 

122 

51 



Raising from seed 94!pinching 

Reflexed 142 Plants, bush 



Short stemmed 66 

Single flow3red varieties 145 

Society of America 67,157 

Specimen plants 70 

Standard 79 



Type for the South 114 Planting 



Old 4 

Specimen 70 

Standard 71 

Varying hight of 39 

Young 



.18, 88 



160 



THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 



PAGE 
Points, scales of eTlStandard 



PAGE 
chrysanthemums... 79 



Pollen GTjGtem rot 133 

Pompons 107, 143 Stopping 71 

Potash 49 Suckers 25 

Pots 14|Sulphate of ammonia 49 

Potting 19, 82 Of Iron 50 

Propagation 4, 73,82, 88, 111 Syringing 23, 82 

Time for SjTemperature 55,85 

Red spider 123 Thrips 123 

Rust 128, Top-dressing 84 

Scales of points. [Training 25,79 

For bush and s.andard jTying 24 

plants 67 Varieties, selection of, 



For single stemmed plants.. 68 
Specimen commercial blooms 68 
Specimen exhibition blooms. 69 

Seed sowing 99 

Shading 53 

Side shoots 25 

Soil 11. 88 

Specimen plants 70 

Sports 101 

Spraying 21 

Staging 63 

Staking 79 



For commercial cut flower 

culture 148 

For exhibition flowers 143 

For single-stemmed plants.. 147 
For specimen bush or stand- 
ard plants 147 

Some promising new 148 

Ventilation 21, 75 

Water, deficiency of 23 

Excess of 23 

Watering 22 , 100 



OCT S 19C5 



